Virgin Trains has signed a five-year £4.4m deal with Global
Crossing for provision of networks to support the rail company's
plans for expansion and Internet-based operations.
Despite the current climate of uncertainty surrounding Internet
service providers in the wake of the KPNQwest collapse, Virgin has
not backed the deal up with a second sourcing arrangement. Virgin
is confident about the arrangement, even though Global Crossing's
US parent company is currently in bankruptcy protection.
Explaining the company's decision, Jeremy Acklam, Virgin Trains'
head of IT, said, "We did risk assessment. Global Crossing's UK
network is of such value that there have been more than 50
expressions of interest in its purchase, so we believe there is no
risk to continuity."
Global Crossing will manage voice and data services to 60 Virgin
Trains locations and voice connections to 1,500 phones.
The network has been expanded to support Virgin's Internet
ticketing service and call centres. It will also support its
roll-out of ticket pick-up kiosks at stations.
"Without network expansion it is difficult to expand the business
these days," said Acklam.