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Verizon Communications, the second-largest US telecommunications group, is to expand its global communications network to provide its multinational corporate customers in fast-growing markets like China and India with additional services.
The decision comes as US telecommunications groups including AT&T increasingly look outside their domestic market for revenue growth from higher value added services.
Like Verizon, AT&T has announced plans to expand its global network in an effort to serve the increasing number of multinationals with operations in fast growth markets like China, India and Brazil. AT&T and Verizon compete in these markets with a handful of other global telecommunications groups including BT, Spain's Telefónica and Deutsche Telekom.
Verizon, which completed its $8.6bn acquisition of MCI and its portfolio of business clients at the start of last year, serves 97 per cent of Fortune 500 companies as well as many US government and state agencies.
The company's global enterprise revenues base increased by 3.1 per cent last year, at demand by multinationals for strategic services such as IP (internet protocol)-based telephony, ethernet and managed services. Fourth-quarter global enterprise revenues were 25 per cent higher than a year earlier.
Large corporate sales at AT&T, to spend $1bn this year on its international network, rose 1.8 per cent to $4.4bn, excluding items such as equipment sales. Verizon, did not disclose how much extra spending it planned.
The New York-based company said expansion will allow it to provide enhanced voice, video and data services to its corporate customers. It will include China, India, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Canada.
Verizon intends its network enhancements to increase capacity, decrease provisioning time, reduce latency (the time it takes for data entering the network to reach its destination), and improve reliability and efficiency.
"Our customers expect us to be where they need us, when they need us, and to offer our services and solutions regardless of the region of the world," said Fred Briggs, Verizon business executive vice-president of operations and technology.
