UMG, Equant sign outsourcing deal
Universal Music Group has signed a five-year communications outsourcing deal with Paris-based Equant that it hopes will save it at least 10 percent on its $20 million in yearly networking costs to operations in 48 countries. Equant will be responsible for all of UMG's communications infrastructure, including a global WAN and LAN, managed voice and IP telephony, and Web hosting. The deal is valued at tens of millions of dollars annually, according to UMG.