CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) has established a network-to-network interconnection agreement with Telstra Global, enabling the Australian provider to increase its footprint throughout the United States to satisfy the needs of its multinational business customers.
With the IP virtual private network (VPN) NNI agreement, CenturyLink will provide Telstra Global with access to 73 of its U.S.-based VPN points of presence (PoPs).
As a result, the service provider will have a larger set of connectivity and backup options to provide to its multi-site business customers.
Tom Homer, Head of EMEA and the Americas for Telstra Global, said the in the U.S., Telstra Global is focused on serving large MNCs that are growing into and out of Asia with global services, and this agreement will help it better respond to those needs.
In the U.S. Telstra serves a number of major companies that have a presence in Asia, including Domino's Pizza and Coca Cola.
"A deal like this is really important to us because we're winning more and more new customers in the U.S. and inside and outside of Asia for businesses that are growing faster in Asia than they are in other places in the world," Homer said in an interview with FierceTelecom. "For us, it's not that we particularly want to sell U.S. domestic services, but to serve our multinational customers who want to get best of breed services in their local markets."
He added that they while they have a number of NNI partners throughout all of the regions it serves, they chose CenturyLink "because of the coverage they have and the high degree of focus on customer experience."
Besides broadening its network coverage, Telstra Global is also in the process of releasing a number of new products, including its Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)-based cloud nodes which provide service in London, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia.
"We're getting a lot of demand from customers that want to go to those nodes from European and the U.S. as well as Australia and Asia," Homer said.
The goal with this agreement for Telstra Global is extending its access reach. Today, its line hosting services are delivered out of 18 data centers and include various network connectivity options that reach to over 1,400 PoPs in over 230 countries and territories.
"Telstra is going to have MNC customers that need to reach the U.S.--Telstra and CenturyLink aren't exclusive to each other, but with a NNI in place it's going to make it easier and cost-effective for the operator to approach CenturyLink when it needs connectivity to U.S. resources," said Brian Washburn, service director, Global Business Network and IT Services, in an interview with FierceTelecom. "I see it as a nice pairing for both parties."
Washburn added that the success of this arrangement comes down to both service providers delivering on the basic elements that come with any NNI.
"The proof is going to come with respect to how well the partners coordinate factors like service levels for provisioning, performance, reporting, management and support with each other; and then also the value of the actual customers they on-board that use the arrangement," he said.
From a broader trend perspective, a growing base of international service providers looking to extend their foothold into the U.S. market have been making more of these E-NNI arrangements with large carriers like CenturyLink.
Besides Telstra Global, Pacnet and PCCW recently established similar arrangements with tw telecom and Lightower to better serve their U.S.-based customers.
For more:
- see the release
Related articles:
Lightower, PCCW establish E-NNI agreement, extend Ethernet reach
Pacnet penetrates U.S. market with tw telecom E-NNI agreement
Updated article on Oct. 23 with quotes from Tom Homer, Head of EMEA and the Americas for Telstra Global.