Dubai, United Arab Emirates – (The Hosting News) – December 7, 2006 – AT and T Inc., has developed an investment and growth global growth strategy, to service MNCs in key markets around the world, to serve the needs of its global enterprise customer base in the Middle East region.

One of the highest-growth economic areas in the world, AT and T’s strategy in the region is underpinned by a number of initiatives announced this week at the GITEX/GulfComms show, which include: — Opening of AT and T Regional Headquarters in Dubai. AT and T announced it is opening a regional headquarters office in Dubai. The office will provide a headquarters for a small AT and T team to work with key local AT and T partners and customers and, for the first time, host a direct AT and T sales resource in the region. The office will support both retails and wholesale activity in the region. — Qtel Investment in NavLink. Qtel, one of the region’s leading communications providers, announced that it has taken an equity stake alongside AT and T in NavLink. Last year AT and T, NavLink and Qtel announced the deployment of the first world-class data center in Doha, Qatar, that hosted the first Middle Eastern node of AT and T’s global network. This investment will allow Qtel to strengthen its existing strategic relationships with NavLink and AT and T. — Opening of AT and T Global Network Node in Dubai. This week saw a joint announcement from AT and T, NavLink and Etisalat that AT and T’s global network node, providing advanced MPLS services, was now live in Dubai serving customers. — Agreement With STC to Deploy AT and T Global Network Node in Saudi Arabia. AT and T, NavLink and STC announced plans to deploy a state-of-the-art MPLS enabled node in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 2007, in cooperation with Saudi Telecommunications Company (STC), adding significant reach for AT and T’s global infrastructure to one of the key markets in the region. Deployment of the node is already under way, and it should be operational by the end of the first half of 2007.

The agreement will see AT and T interconnecting to the largest MPLS network in the Middle East. AT and T intends to further enhance its network reach and services in the Gulf region and North Africa, and work is well under way to deploy new nodes in a number of other countries, with further announcements next year.

John Vladimir Slamecka, head of AT and T operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa remarked, ”The Gulf region is one of the fastest-growing and dynamic economies in the world. We are seeing increasing demand from both our existing global customer base to reach into the region and now local businesses that are going global. Our approach, to partner with the best local partners, such as Qtel, Etisalat and STC, along with our own direct investment in NavLink, gives us the ideal model to service the needs of enterprises in these high-growth markets. We are able to have a local presence backed by a common global infrastructure and service, giving AT and T a unique way to serve our customers in these countries and providing us with a key competitive advantage.”

The initiatives reflect the wider global strategy of AT and T to expand its reach in key growth and emerging markets to support the needs of its global enterprise customer base. They are complemented by a number of other recent global announcements including the inauguration of a new business venture in India last month (when AT and T became the first foreign telecom operator to secure a new telecommunications license in the country) and the extension of AT and T’s network in Vietnam through a partnership with local carrier Viettel announced last week. These moves reflect the wider global goal of AT and T to be able to deliver service to multinational customers wherever they need it.

AT and T offers MPLS-based services in 137 countries from more than 1,600 service nodes. AT and T also offers remote access in 149 countries through 45,000- plus access points. AT and T works closely with NavLink, a company that is a leading provider of managed data services to businesses in the Middle East, and has held a significant investment in the company for a number of years. NavLink currently provides services directly to a strong customer base in 17 countries throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa and globally through AT and T’s global private data network and AT and T’s global network of data centers.

AT and T Inc. is one of the world’s largest telecommunications holding companies and is the largest in the United States. Operating globally under the AT and T brand, AT and T companies are recognized as the leading worldwide providers of IP-based communications services to business and as leading U.S. providers of high speed Internet, local and long distance voice, and directory publishing and advertising services. AT and T Inc. holds a 60 percent ownership interest in Cingular Wireless, which is the No. 1 U.S. wireless services provider with 55.8 million wireless customers.

For more information about AT and T, please visit: www.att.com.

Comments:

Related posts:

1. Partnership Extends Connectivity to Middle East
2. Colocation Firm Expands, as Middle East Crisis Stimulates Interest
3. Rackspace Offers Hosted Virtual Desktop Platform In Europe, Middle East And Africa
4. GoGrid Opens New East Coast Data Center
5. Switch Datacenter Group Opens High Density State-of-The-Art Network Neutral Datacenter in Amsterdam South East