SBC Communications will continue to carry traffic across WilTel's national fiber network through 2009 under a new master services agreement announced by the firms. The agreement outlines parameters for continued SBC usage of WilTel services throughout the planned AT&T acquisition and integration process. Additionally, the agreement calls for WilTel to be a preferred long-term provider of the combined SBC and AT&T for off-net and diverse network services.
"Our top priorities during the planned AT&T acquisition process are to ensure security and reliability for our customers. This agreement with WilTel is designed to facilitate those efforts and to enable us to provide even greater network diversity options for our customers moving forward," said Ferguson, group president and CEO, SBC Enterprise Business Services.
Additional financial details related to the agreement will be disclosed in each party's related SEC filing.
http://www.sbc.com
http://www.wiltel.com
- WilTel is a subsidiary of Leucadia National Corporation.
- In October 2002, Williams Communications emerged from Chapter 11 proceedings and changed its name back to WilTel Communications Group, a Nevada corporation. The company emerged with a new $375 million credit facility and no other substantial debt obligations other than those related to its headquarters building. As part of the restructuring, Leucadia National Corporation acquired the majority position in the firm.
- In January 2003, WilTel announced a deal to supply SBC Communications with 10 Gbps OC-192c transport for building out its national IP network. WilTel described the contract as the largest in its history.
- In April 2005, WilTel was awarded a contract valued at up to $35 million to provide the Department of Defense with Optical Wave services. Earlier this year, WilTel also announced Vonage as a customer. Vonage's service area encompasses more than 2,000 active rate centers in more than 150 global markets.
