Equant's $4.5m imperial lather

Contract for VPNs and videoconferencing

PZ Cussons has signed a five-year, $4.5m agreement with Equant for its networking needs between sites in a dozen countries.

The consumer goods company, known for brands such as Imperial Leather, will employ virtual private network (VPN) technology that uses Internet Protocol (IP) to run its enterprise resource planning applications and voice calls.

France Telecom-owned Equant, which to a large degree sells itself on its global reach, said the contract does not displace another single supplier but replaces a number of networks used in different countries and regions.

PZ Cussons is strong in Europe and developing nations in Africa and Asia. Equant said its work in west Africa was a factor that swung the deal its way.

In the future, the user is looking at videoconferencing between sites over the IP network to drive efficiency gains.