The agreement covers the delivery and management of a BT Connect Local Area Network and Wide Area Network, as well as IP telephony, contact centres, contract management, service management and the transition of infrastructure to BT's IP Connect network.

will also receive a standardised and integrated voice and data platform across its international operations, which will provide network services to the company's sixteen UK offices, as well as centres in the US, Asia, Europe and Australia.

Mike Mann, head of technology strategy and planning for Standard Life, said that the deal would save the company a "significant amount" on what it had been spending previously, but could not provide exact figures.

"We see this as an opportunity to embrace modern methods of communicating with customers and provide facilities for our internal workforce to collaborate much more effectively across the business," said Mann.

"The deal also allows us to expand into new geographies and deploy voice and video applications very quickly, in any location," he added.