Cable&Wireless signs 300 Mn pound deal with Aviva

By siliconindia   |   Saturday, 17 May 2008, 01:50 IST
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Bangalore: Cable&Wireless -Europe, Asia and U.S. (EAU)- has announced it has signed a new six-year contract with Aviva, the world's fifth largest insurance group, worth 300 million pound. The contract will see Cable&Wireless providing a full communications suite - 72 separate services, including voice telephony, data, local and wide area networks (IP-VPN and MPLS) and, international services - to Aviva's 35,000 staff based in the UK and India. The contract successfully expands Cable&Wireless' long standing relationship with Aviva, where it has been preferred telecoms supplier for 12 years, to include a range of new services. Cable&Wireless will continue to manage Aviva?s existing communications infrastructure as well as introducing services such as IP telephony and IP contact center services, managed Blackberry services and advanced speech recognition technology across Aviva sites in the UK. In total, the network will comprise more than 1000 sites, with 57,000 individual telephone points and 74,000 data points. Aviva will also further utilise Cable&Wireless' well-established infrastructure and experience in India under the contract. Cable&Wireless will continue to manage 6000 call centre seats in India, including providing on site support staff. The new services will help Aviva continue to improve communication with its millions of customers, who are increasingly interacting with the company through e-mail and e-commerce tools. The IP-based services will also enable Aviva to achieve significant cost savings without reducing its communication facilities. The contract, which extends to 2014, underlines Cable & Wireless' strength as a telecom provider to global insurance companies, and in the broader financial services industry. Commenting, Jim Marsh, Chief Executive Officer, Cable&Wireless Europe, Asia & US, said, "This is an excellent win for Cable&Wireless, and a tangible vote of support in our service and reliability. Working with the UK's largest insurance group is a testament to our competitiveness among enterprise customers, where our strong focus on customer service is paying dividends."