Telekom Austria, KPN International form European wholesale partnership

Telekom Austria Group (VSE: TKA, OTC US: TKAGY) and KPN International have joined forces to create one of Europe’s largest fiber-optic networks. The deal encompasses the interconnection of Ethernet, IP VPN, wavelength, and IP telephony services, which will be made available to international wholesale carriers and large business customers. The partnership is already operational, and provides an excellent service level agreement in the industry, the two operators claim.

The networks will be connected in Frankfurt with a backup in Vienna. The IP backbone connects the four most important Internet exchange points in Europe: Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, and Paris. The backbone covers a total of 173 points of presence (PoPs) within 35 countries across Europe and North America, effectively doubling the footprint compared to either company alone.

Stefan Amon, director of wholesale at Telekom Austria Group said, “I am really proud to announce this pan-European wholesale partnership with our two regionally complementary infrastructures. I see an excellent operational fit as both backbone network providers focus on top quality. This infrastructure throughout 35 countries will be one of the largest in Europe, offering technological as well as local know-how and experience from Telekom Austria Group in CEE and from KPN International in Western Europe.”

The cooperation allows local presence of the Telekom Austria Group in Western Europe via KPN International´s backbone infrastructure; KPN International and its customers will benefit from the local presence the Telekom Austria Group has across Central and Eastern Europe. Common marketing and sales activities are being implemented. Thanks to the partnership, customers will get more efficient service due to enhanced end-to-end managed networks with a single point of contact, the operators say.

Mexican telco América Móvil is pursuing a full takeover of KPN, in which it currently has a 29.77% stake.

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