IBM wins UK bank contract of $1b

AMSTERDAM: IBM has signed a seven-year, 500 million pound ($969 million) contract with British bank Lloyds TSB to supply it with Internet telephony and data services, informed the U.S.-based computer giant.

"The implementation, which includes almost 70,000 Voice over IP (VoIP) telephones, is one of the largest ever in Europe and will reduce Lloyds TSB's network costs," the world's largest computer company said in an e-mailed statement.

VoIP is a technology to deliver telephony services over a standard Internet connection, reducing the need to install and maintain two separate networks, one for voice and one for data communications.

IBM will act as the strategic technology partner to the bank, while network integration and management to all Lloyds TSB branches and cash point machines will be provided by British-based Vanco.

Vanco, in a separate statement, said it estimated the value of the services it would supply over the seven years to be 19.1 million pounds, not including circuits or equipment.

Vtesse Networks, a privately held company also from Britain, will supply the high-capacity fiber network.

The new infrastructure will be rolled out over the next 20 months.