Concert Communication Services, the joint venture between British Telecom and MCI, has signed up 13 multinational corporations to use its managed network services.
BT, MCI and their worldwide Concert distributors, have signed contracts with companies ranging from Microsoft and Compaq to the investment firm Bear Stearns. Other companies that will use Concert services include Cisco's Venezuelan subsidiary, Sun Microsystems, Bay Networks, Western Digital, Pirelli in Spain and World Insurance Network in the UK.
The total value of the contracts is US$135 million, to be received by Concert over the next three years, officials said.
Which of Concert's services - including frame relay, virtual private networks and voice services - will be used by each company was not disclosed. But many of the companies will use Concert's services to link up operations in multiple countries, officials said.
Concert's network currently has 6,000 nodes in 50 countries, officials said.