BT To Provide EU With Voice Services For Next Seven Years

BT has won a high profile €15 million (£10.56m) contract with the European Commission (EC) to provide fixed line voice services to 21 major European institutions.

Through its BT Global Services arm, BT will link agencies and bodies, including the EC, European Council and European Defence agency, across Belgium, Luxembourg and Strasbourg over the course of the next seven years.

BT and the EU

The SIP-based service will allow the EC to make use of unified communications, instant messaging and video calls.

“We are very proud of our relationship with the EU institutions, where we provide a wide range of networked IT services,” said Corrado Sciolla, president of Europe and global telecom markets at BR Global Services. “Today’s contract aims at improving fixed line communications within those institutions. Voice services might sound old fashioned, but they are absolutely critical to everyone.

“By modernising the technology, we enable the EU to manage its communications infrastructure much more effectively, combine voice with other media streams and achieve cost-savings. We are looking forward to again putting our global expertise at the service of the EU, its institutions and its citizens.”

The new deal cements a decade-long relationship with the European Union and builds on a separate €55.7 million (£39.2m), five-year contract signed in March that will see BT deliver dedicated internet access to major European institutions cross the 28 member states that comprise the EU.

In its most recent set of quarterly results, BT reported that revenues at BT Global Services fell by six percent to £1.5 billion.

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