P&O Nedlloyd Signs $35 million IP VPN Deal with Equant; Shipping Giant

P&O Nedlloyd Signs $35 million IP VPN Deal with Equant; Shipping Giant Extends Contract for Five Years to Slash Communication Infrastructure Costs up to $6 Million

    Business Editors

    WASHINGTON & LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 17, 2005--P&O Nedlloyd has extended a nine-year partnership with Equant (NYSE: ENT) (Euronext Paris: EQU) in a bid to reduce its communication infrastructure costs by up to 11 percent per year.
    Under the terms of the $35 million agreement, Equant will continue to provide IP VPN services, linking approximately 150 sites worldwide.
    The container shipping firm employs more than 12,000 people around the world. With such a global reach, P&O Nedlloyd depends on its IP VPN infrastructure to run essential services and applications such as its customized Freight Management Systems, PeopleSoft and messaging systems. Equant will provide a full range of services including an IP VPN with managed access, managed firewalls and disaster recovery facilities.
    P&O Nedlloyd chose to work with Equant because of the following key reasons:

--	The successful nine year relationship between both parties.
--	A comprehensive Service Level Agreement which ensures quality and reliability of the network.
--	Equant's expertise in global networking which can be scaled to meet the individual needs of any office.

    "A solid communications base is essential to any business strategy," said Mark Bulle, Infrastructure and Messaging manager at P&O Nedlloyd. "But, it is also one of our largest IT cost bases. As a business, we have to make every effort to ensure the best customer service at the lowest cost possible. We believe Equant to be the best placed global company to be able to provide all the services we need at the levels we require and appropriate cost."
    "Equant is dedicated to helping its customers achieve cost savings and work more effectively," said Lloyd Salvage, general manager, U.K. and Ireland at Equant. "This deal encompasses many different skill-sets for Equant both within networking and managed services and our expertise in these areas means we are able to set service level agreements to ensure high quality service."

    About P&O Nedlloyd

    P&O Nedlloyd is one of the world's leading providers of point-to-point container shipping services. To support this core business, it also offers a range of value-added logistics services, from relatively simple freight management to sophisticated supply chain management. P&O Nedlloyd is the fourth largest provider of container shipping services in the world by fleet capacity, and operates a modern fleet of 154 container ships. P&O Nedlloyd's ships call at 229 ports in 94 countries with the support of more than 400 offices in 156 countries.

    About Equant

    Equant (NYSE: ENT) (Euronext Paris: EQU) is a recognized industry leader in global communications services for multinational businesses. Equant combines its network expertise - including unmatched seamless network reach in 220 countries and territories and local support in approximately 165 countries - with its expanded services capabilities to provide global, integrated and customized communication services to enable its customers key business processes. Equant serves thousands of the world's top companies, with the industry's most extensive portfolio of communications services and network solutions, including the market-leading IP VPN used by nearly 1,300 global businesses. Equant, a subsidiary of France Telecom, consistently leads industry surveys in corporate user satisfaction.
    This release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements related to Equant that involve risks and uncertainties. Readers are cautioned that these statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual future results or events. Readers are referred to the documents filed by Equant with the SEC, specifically the most recent filing on SEC Form 20-F, which identifies important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, including, among other things, risks relating to Equant's history of operating losses, the unpredictability of growth in Equant's markets, changing technology, uncertain and changing regulatory restrictions, Equant's international operations, dependence on suppliers, network security issues, competition, and volatility of Equant's stock price and risks relating to the combination with Global One. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to Equant on the date hereof, and Equant assumes no obligation to update such statements.

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CONTACT: Equant Media Relations Global and Europe Frederic Gielec +33 1 46 46 2189 frederic.gielec@equant.com or North and Latin America Elizabeth Mayeri +1 212 251 2086 elizabeth.mayeri@equant.com or Online Pressroom http://www.equant.com/press or Equant Investor Relations Europe Ashley Rayfield +44 208 321 4581 ashley.rayfield@equant.com or France Isabelle Guibert +33 1 46 46 99 53 isabelle.guibert@equant.com

KEYWORD: VIRGINIA UNITED KINGDOM INTERNATIONAL EUROPE INDUSTRY KEYWORD: HARDWARE SOFTWARE TELECOMMUNICATIONS MARKETING AGREEMENTS SOURCE: Equant

Copyright Business Wire 2005