As well as the reach of its network, Equant has some other advantages.
Telecom's death march rolls on, but Didier Delepine's Equant looks like a survivor.
In 2000 Equant approached the state-owned China Netcom and agreed to teach it how to build a national data network for China.
Equant's main selling point is its reach, with service personnel in 145 countries, including remote places like Damascus, Syria and Reykjavik, Iceland.
With telecoms merger mania in America rapidly creating a Bell West and a Bell East, Equant could prove an attractive short-cut to a global presence.
The resulting network just happens to link seamlessly with Equant's network.
After tentative beginnings, the company finally emerged as Equant in 1997.
Equant's edge is that, in geographic terms, it has by far the world's largest commercial data network, extending into more than 2, 000 cities in 220 countries.
In addition, France Telecom is majority owner of Wanadoo, Europe' second-biggest Internet service provider, and controls Equant, which provides international data and voice services to business customers.
Delepine would like to see the resale agreement continue beyond 2003, but Sprint has its eyes on nabbing those customers, most of whom have never heard of Equant.
This suits multinational customers such as Morgan Stanley, Coca-Cola, Interpol and Danish shipper Maersk, but Equant's reach makes its service about 10% to 15% pricier than its rivals'.
Recent interviews with users, carried out by the Yankee Group Europe, a telecoms consultancy, revealed widespread cynicism about global alliances--and an increasing interest in using companies such as Equant.
But despite its strengths and its reputation with its customers, Jennifer Pigg, an analyst with the Yankee Group, a high-tech consultancy, reckons that the lack of a recognised brand could hold Equant back.
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