Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) has signed service contracts worth $S350 million ($3ll.7 million) with global network providers Equant Network Services, the Global One consortium and Infonet Services, the telecomms company announced Wednesday.
The three service providers will use national carrier SingTel's network and support services as well as distribution channels to extend their global services into Singapore and the rest of the Asia-Pacific region, thus serving their multinational customers operating in the region, SingTel said.
The agreements, which will span the next three to five years, cover leasing infrastructure such as international circuits, domestic network services and facilities management, as well as services such as network monitoring for enhanced performance and efficiency, SingTel said.
In turn, SingTel will use the partnerships to extend the reach of its ConnectPlus value-added network service for multinational corporations into Europe and North America, the carrier said.
SingTel will invest $S100 million in ConnectPlus over the next one to two years, in addition to the $S100 million that has poured into the service since its launch in June last year. In total, the telecomms company said it will invest $S900 million this year to improve its infrastructure to position itself as a leading Asia-Pacific carrier.
SingTel is discussing with other service and equipment providers such as MCI WorldCom and Madge Networks to form similar partnerships, the company said. Last month, SingTel formed an alliance with networking giant Cisco Systems to develop and market a wide range of advanced telecommunications services for the region.