BT Signs Global Managed Services Deal With British American Tobacco

IRVING, Texas, Oct. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- BT, one of the world's leading providers of communications solutions and services, today announced the signature of a global managed services agreement with British American Tobacco (FTSE: BATS), valued at more than 100 million USD.

Under the terms of the agreement, BT will manage the global wide area network infrastructure for British American Tobacco, including remote access, network security and third-party supplier management across nearly 1,000 sites in 119 countries.  BT will deliver a high performance IP-based network, allowing British American Tobacco to prioritise different types of traffic according to its business needs and reduce the total cost of ownership of its communications estate.

Phil Colman, CIO for British American Tobacco, said, "BT's expertise and experience supporting other global consumer packaged goods companies was a strong factor in our decision.  We were also impressed with BT's extensive global network, their desire and ability to improve the services continuously through innovation, and in-country resources, particularly in the Asia Pacific and Latin America regions."

Kim McMann, President, Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), BT Global Services, stated, "Leading multinational companies in the CPG sector are facing multiple challenges and opportunities with competition becoming more acute than ever. Global collaboration is one of the keys to success. This requires a global technology infrastructure that has great depth and breadth, running state of the art services offering greatest possible speed, security, reliability and flexibility. We are very proud that British American Tobacco recognises our ability to deliver and manage such an infrastructure and such services. This new win is further evidence of BT's leadership in providing global solutions for its customers, and builds on past success within the CPG industry globally.  Our sector-focused strategy is a differentiator our customers recognise.  We look forward to providing an outstanding service to British American Tobacco."

BT's CPG team is focused on companies that provide manufactured, consumable goods with a quick shelf turnover, including food, beverage, home and personal care, and tobacco.  BT offers CPG-specific services based on a core portfolio encompassing global networking, security, collaboration, data centre services, contact centre services, supply chain services, mobility and unified communications. This enables CPG multinationals to focus on globalisation, new product development and operational efficiency to remain competitive.

For further information  
Enquiries about this news release should be made to the BT Group Newsroom on its 24-hour number: 020 7356 5369. From outside the UK dial + 44 20 7356 5369. All news releases can be accessed at our web site: http://www.btplc.com/News

About British American Tobacco
British American Tobacco is the world's second largest quoted tobacco group by global market share, with brands sold in around 180 markets. It has 46 cigarette factories in 39 countries and employs more than 55,000 people worldwide.

About BT   
BT is one of the world's leading providers of communications services and solutions, serving customers in more than 170 countries.  Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to its customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband and internet products and services and converged fixed/mobile products and services.  BT consists principally of four lines of business: BT Global Services, BT Retail, BT Wholesale and Openreach.

In the year ended 31 March 2012, BT Group's revenue was £18,897m with profit before taxation of £2,445m.

British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group.  BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York. 

For more information, visit www.btplc.com

SOURCE BT