The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (Swift) has announced that Colt, Equant and Infonet have been selected for the provision of its secure IP-VPN (virtual private network) services. Negotiations with a fourth provider are ongoing.
Swift resumed operation of its network in April this year following the collapse of its exclusive outsourcing contract with Global Crossing. The US telecoms firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection following $3.4 billion losses in Q4 2002.
According to Swift, the move from a single to a multi-vendor architecture is due to the current uncertainty in the telecommunications industry.
Swift adds that it has negotiated base level pricing with each provider and customers will be able to contract directly with the firm of their choice, but the society will maintain end-to-end accountability for its SwiftNet service.
The multi-vendor network is due to be implemented in Q1 2003.