Neuf Cegetel Strengthens ICT Portfolio with NextiraOne Alliance

On November 27th Neuf Cegetel announced a partnership alliance with France-based enterprise communications integrator NextiraOne, aimed at serving French businesses with full-IP solutions. The companies will conduct joint marketing and promotion activities as well as service implementation including IP-based unified communications (UC) and management for customers with multi-site needs.

Recommended Competitive Responses

► Competitors need to inquire with NextiraOne concerning its intentions to continue as a carrier-neutral vendor for honoring existing contracts and for providing ongoing services and support. The fact that the latest agreement with Neuf Cegetel is non-exclusive opens up a clear avenue for response: i.e., telling customers that the competing providers can also offer projects in cooperation with NextiraOne if that is what the customer desires.

► Orange Business Services should point to its proven experience with delivering IP telephony to multi-site corporations, giving the example of its Airbus customer deployment. The Airbus contract includes migration from traditional PBX to fully IP-based telephony for 30,000 extensions in France and 10,000 extensions in the UK. The carrier should underscore it already has the logistics and systems in place to offer customers a hassle-free contract from a single vendor.

Recommended End User/Customer Responses

► French businesses with multi-site communications requirements should certainly be considering the Neuf Cegetel/NextiraOne proposal, because combined the two companies have a number of strengths to offer. Neuf Cegetel has the national IP infrastructure and workforce, while NextiraOne is a leading voice communications and systems integration company. The market benefits overall from this partnership as there is more choice than ever for large-scale and complex telecoms and IT solutions.

| Client Access - Full report in Business Telecom Services - Europe | More information

Verizon Business to Offer 40G across Europe with Nortel

On November 15th Verizon Business announced that it would soon begin the rollout of its ultra long haul (ULH) equipment, offering backbone capacity between the core routes of London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris and Brussels. The network is based on Nortel's Optical Multiservice Edge 6500 and it features dynamically compensating optics and a common photonic layer. Verizon will deploy ULH transport across 3,230 kilometres and offer a capacity of 40 Gbps.

Analytical Summary

► Current Perspective: Positive on Verizon Business‘ announcement regarding plans to upgrade its pan-European backbone to 40 Gbps using ultra long haul (ULH) technologies, because the new investment, based on Nortel equipment, will enable the carrier to quadruple its backbone capacity to support continual growth in IP and data communications services across major European hubs.

► Vendor Importance: Moderate to Verizon Business, as the company needs to continue to invest in its network infrastructure to support the current and future demands for high-capacity bandwidth from its customers. The injection of 40 Gbps capacity will be important for supporting high-speed Internet access, advancing its carrier Ethernet products, delivering more Web-based applications (especially multimedia and video), and supporting the growing requirements for managed storage.

► Market Impact: Moderate on the European telecoms market, because there is no sharp increase in market demand that matches Verizon Business’ move to quadruple network capacity in select routes. Most customers appear to be content with their existing service offerings. When there is a noticeable shift, competitors are also likely to invest in similar network upgrades.

| Client Access - Full report in Business Telecom Services - Europe | More information

Vodafone Italy Gives Local Business FMC Market Big Punch with Rete Unica

On November 15th Vodafone Italy announced Rete Unica integrated fixed-line and mobile telephony and DSL-based broadband for businesses. The operator's NGN takes over switchboard roles to give the choice of using a mobile handset or office fixed-line on a single company extension number. A special voice tariff is applied to calls within the office from mobile phones. Rete Unica offers customers voice and data services from a single vendor with simplified billing.

Recommended Competitive Responses

► Current Perspective: Slightly positive on Vodafone Italy’s launch of Rete Unica, because the company is the first operator to launch intelligent-network switchboard functionality into the SME and large enterprise segment. The single assigned company extension number provided for use on either mobile phones or a fixed-line office phone is a potential point of differentiation. Furthermore, Vodafone Italy is offering a suite of fixed and mobile telephony product plus broadband from a single point of contact, with simplified billing and invoicing.

► Vendor Importance: High to Vodafone Italy’s FMC strategy, because the company needs to move aggressively with integrated fixed-mobile and broadband service bundles to remain competitive against primary rival Telecom Italia. This move is also the natural evolution and extension of 'Vodafone Casa' for consumers taking the product across segments into the business space. Vodafone must take advantage of a powerful and established wireless services business to complement and enhance its relatively new fixed-line direction.

► Market Impact: High on the Italian FMC market for businesses, because Vodafone Italy is raising the pressure on competitors by bringing out unique selling points (e.g., using a single intelligent NGN to give fixed/wireless handset flexibility using the same single extension number). Italian end-users have more choices than ever and will be interested in benefiting from being able to use either their wireless handsets or desk-based office phones for making and receiving calls to the same number either on the move or while stationary at the desk.

| Client Access - Full report in Business Telecom Services - Europe | More information
| Client Access - Full report in Enterprise Mobility - Europe | More information