AT&T to spend $750 million on global IP offerings this year

The communications giant is embarking on a global initiative to extend its IP network globally and accelerate product delivery.

AT&T plans to invest more than $750 million this year to beef up its IP network and speed up development and delivery of associated solutions and services.

The cash injection will be a hit with UK users as the fruits of the money will be aimed at benefiting businesses in both emerging and developed countries through more than 200 initiatives to complement the network expansion activity.

In addition to the UK, the US and Canada, the company says target markets will include France and Germany as well as high-growth economies such as Asia Pacific (including China and India), the Middle East and Latin America.

AT&T also plans to increase its internet data centre (IDC) capacity by expanding several existing sites in the UK and US as well as opening a number of new centres in Canada and the US.

The aim is to have a total of 38 IDCs located around the world by the end of the year.

"This programme, which represents a significantly higher level of investment over 2006, reflects AT&T's determination to maintain its lead in serving the needs of our customers globally," said Dick Anderson, group president of global business services at AT&T.

"In a global environment where IP network and convergence trends continue to transform companies and whole industries, we're well-positioned to meet our customers' needs with solutions delivered via a global IP network that is second to none."

The communications specialist will also channel the investment into extending the deployment of key access technologies, such as Wi-Fi, DSL, Ethernet and satellite to make it easier for businesses to connect to AT&T's global IP network.

Over the next year, AT&T hopes to enable users to benefit from Wi-Fi access from more than 55,000 hotspots in over 80 countries.

The company also aims to have DSL network access in 34 countries, Ethernet network access in 31 countries and satellite and long line extension access from 51 countries by the end of this year.

During the same period, AT&T's network is aiming to provide MPLS-based access from 155 countries via more than 2,000 service nodes, including the addition of new network nodes in India, Malaysia, Morocco, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam.