Oct, 2010 : Verizon Business Partners with Gateway Business Africa

📅 October 25, 2010 - Partnership allows the company to expand global IP network reach in African countries.

Verizon Business, a provider of communications and IT solutions, today announced a new network alliance with Gateway Business Africa, a provider of pan-African corporate connectivity and telecommunications, that will expand its Private IP network capabilities in several African countries.

The company states that the agreement allows it to leverage Gateway Business' network presence and extend coverage of the its multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) network to an additional 14 pan-African countries by using interconnection points between the companies' networks. The MPLS network gives customers a scalable and flexible cross-continent IP business communications platform for continued growth and global reach. Its customers now can access Private IP network capabilities in Tanzania and Kenya in Africa's eastern region; Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Cameroon on the western coast; and Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique and South Africa in the central and southern regions. Other countries to be added to the Private-IP Gateway interconnection arrangement are Uganda, Lesotho, Angola and Zambia.

It further states that the company's Private IP customers benefit from six classes of service (CoS), and latency-sensitive applications, such as VoIP and video, receive priority over applications such as e-mail. The ability to prioritize applications, combined with advanced reporting tools for network and application performance to the desktop and user level, make Private IP an ideal global platform for business communications and day-to-day operations. The company delivers a comprehensive portfolio of managed network services, managing 300,000-plus security, network and hosting devices across more than 4,200 customer networks spanning 142 countries and territories, all backed by service-level agreements. The company's global infrastructure, well connected IP networks, provides a solid foundation from which to serve multinational corporations and government agencies.

"Verizon is a leader in developing and delivering global IP network solutions worldwide, and this new agreement continues to meet our customers' growing requirements for IP as the global business platform of choice," said Ihab Tarazi, Vice President of Verizon's Global Network Planning. "Our network alliance and the MPLS interconnect enable full traffic integration of Verizon Business' global Private IP network with Gateway Business' network in this important emerging market. As a result, our multinational customers can rely on a single secure global network foundation for their business operations around the world."

"As the leading pan-African telecommunications provider, we look forward to helping Verizon Business expand its MPLS network coverage to meet their customers' needs in this growing region," said Wally Beelders, CEO of Gateway Business, a Vodacom Group. "We take pride in our commitment to provide outstanding network connectivity using a unique mix of submarine and terrestrial cables and satellite connections."