ATLANTA -- AT&T announced today it has won an $8 million, three-year contract from Metso Corp., a global supplier of process industry machinery and systems, as well as know-how and aftermarket services.   Metso's core businesses are fiber and paper technology, rock and mineral processing, and automation and control technology.  This agreement provides an integrated, global networking solution linking 130 sites in 23 countries and expands upon an existing contract by which AT&T provides Metso with communications service.

Previously, Metso relied on 15 vendors in different regions to provision its global network. Now, Metso's global communications reside on AT&T's secure, flexible Internet Protocol (IP) network, affording the company significant efficiencies and economies of scale.

Metso selected AT&T based on a number of parameters, including the company's global capabilities, its world-class infrastructure that offers flexible classes of service and redundancy, and its sophisticated network management platform, which provides the flexibility to meet Metso's demanding business requirements.  Additionally, AT&T significantly simplifies Metso's network administration by establishing a single point-of-contact for its entire global network. 

"Business applications demand real-time data transport and instant network provisioning," said Peter Brodin, Director of Information Technology Infrastructure Services for the Americas.  "Our network must have the flexibility to adapt and grow with new applications, and AT&T's IP network gives us that flexibility."

AT&T's IP Virtual Private Network (IP VPN) solution supports Metso's locations in Europe, North and South America, Africa and Asia Pacific.  It enables Metso to develop, deploy and easily relocate mission-critical, real-time applications on its corporate network.  The network supports a broad array of applications, including email, financial reporting, Web conferencing and several Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems.  Additionally, Metso is in the process of implementing, consolidating and upgrading a number of other global business applications.

"AT&T's IP VPN solution eliminates the need for constant network bandwidth provisioning to accommodate application changes and upgrades," said Brodin.

AT&T's IP VPN service is based on the company's global Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS)-based network, currently reaching more than 130 cities worldwide.  The global network is designed to provide the flexibility of any-to-any data communication with the reliability, quality and security inherent in an MPLS-based architecture.

About Metso Corporation

Metso Corporation is a global supplier of process industry machinery and systems, as well as know-how and aftermarket services. The Corporation's core businesses are fiber and paper technology (Metso Paper), rock and mineral processing (Metso Minerals) and automation and control technology (Metso Automation). In 2003, the net sales of Metso Corporation were EUR 4.3 billion and the personnel totaled approximately 26,000. Metso Corporation is listed on the Helsinki and New York Stock Exchanges.