British Telecommunications Plc has teamed up with Hutchison Telecommunications Ltd, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa Ltd, to add Hong Kong to its worldwide Concert Virtual Private Network service. The Concert service is part of the joint venture between British Telecom and its now controversial merger partner MCI Communications Corp. Virtual Private Networks are […]
British Telecommunications Plc has teamed up with Hutchison Telecommunications Ltd, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa Ltd, to add Hong Kong to its worldwide Concert Virtual Private Network service. The Concert service is part of the joint venture between British Telecom and its now controversial merger partner MCI Communications Corp. Virtual Private Networks are based on Asynchronous Transfer Mode technology, and give the subscriber a minimum guaranteed amount of bandwidth for voice, video and data transmission. The system is similar to leased line, except connections don’t have to follow a fixed path on the telecoms network, so the virtual network is more fault resistant. Telecom claims the advantage to multinational companies is the possibility of connecting all international branches worldwide using the same telecoms provider, and the paying one bill for all telephony and data traffic. Hutchinson is providing the local connections for the venture, with British Telecom providing the international connection and technical support. The two companies are hoping to co-operate on future, unspecified, ventures, they said.
