Oil giant Shell has signed a five-year deal worth $1.6bn
with AT&T to manage its worldwide communications
infrastructure, which includes mobile telephony.
The agreement is one of three outsourcing contracts signed by
Shell with key suppliers for networking and IT services.
AT&T will provide managed network services to Shell and its
subsidiary companies in more than 100 countries. It will deliver
wide area and local area networks, voice services (including
Internet-based telephony), managed security solutions and mobility
services.
AT&T will also manage more than 600 separate communication
contracts with more than 300 vendors around the world. These
contracts include agreements for local connectivity provided by
regional telephone companies, contracts with individual service
providers and various other maintenance and operations deals.
"This important agreement with AT&T reflects our
determination to accelerate Shell's essential IT capability,
optimize our operations and ensure we can provide best-in-class IT
services to support our global business," said Alan Matula, chief
information officer for Shell.
Shell will retain core
skills within its own IT department. Approximately
560 Shell networking professionals located predominantly in the
Netherlands, Malaysia, the UK and the US are expected to transfer
to
AT&T,
joining the company's worldwide workforce of 300,000.