Businesses Grow Globally with Sprint Solutions

Yokogawa selects Sprint as its Global Network Provider; Sprint-owned facilities and Ethernet Access availability expand in 2013

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (BUSINESS WIRE), December 17, 2013 – For the scores of American companies that currently operate overseas or are opening new sites offshore, having powerful, reliable and secure data connectivity is a must if those foreign locations are to thrive. Sprint (NYSE:S, news, filings) knows this and continues to boost its focus and investments where businesses are growing overseas.

Today, Sprint offers services in 157 countries and continues to expand with its own facilities and through NNI (network-to-network interconnectivity) agreements as customer needs require. In 2013, it extended capabilities in Calgary, Alberta; Montreal; Vietnam; London; Geneva; Madrid; Prague; and Budapest, Hungary.

“Many CIOs enjoy the benefits of our business solutions portfolio and value when we also can meet their needs around the globe,” said Karen Freitag, vice president of global sales, Sprint. “Our account teams are experts in domestic and global converged, cloud and mobility services. We’ve also simplified packaging solutions that make data services easy to procure and align with existing demand. And now our relationship with SoftBank allows our two companies to leverage each other’s capabilities, solutions portfolios and business relationships to better serve multinational corporations.”

Sprint advanced to a Challenger position within the most recent Gartner Magic Quadrant for Global Network Service Providers (March 26, 2013). Since the previously published Magic Quadrant report, Sprint has grown its global MPLS, Ethernet and SIP Trunking coverage for business customers.

Globally-esteemed Yokogawa selects Sprint for wireline contract

Sprint’s sales team in Japan recently overcame a rigorous bidding process against several competitors to win a much-coveted contract with global research and innovation company Yokogawa Electric Corporation, a Japanese electrical engineering and software company with businesses based on its measurement, control, and information technologies. Yokogawa now relies on Sprint as its Global Network Provider and benefits from MPLS and IP circuits, all with Managed Network Solutions, at sites in dozens of countries across the globe.

Sprint solutions have helped to reduce their network costs significantly while also upgrading bandwidth, all with an on-time circuit implementation in many complex countries such as Russia and India. Yokogawa appreciates having 24×7 access to CPE performance data via Compass, Sprint’s no-charge, online tool for real-time WAN performance management. The tool also allows them to better understand, optimize and trouble-shoot network performance, view implementation status and understand overall network health.

“While Sprint’s pricing was simple and their solution was the most flexible among bidders while meeting all of our requirements, the ‘people’ aspect was the most important factor for selecting Sprint,” said Satoshi Ioroi, group leader, Global Network, MIS Dep.2, Management Information Systems HQ, at Yokogawa. “We’ve had too many unfortunate experiences with bad support and poor operation when selecting a carrier based on just price or technology. From the start, my team and I were sold on the Sprint sales team… with their swift, accurate and courteous support, they are folks we knew we could trust.”

Ethernet Access expands globally to help reduce complexity and costs for businesses

Ethernet Access from Sprint has expanded to 117 countries in 2013. Available for both business and wholesale partners, Ethernet Access over Sprint’s all-IP network for Global MPLS and Dedicated Internet Access provides more opportunities to reduce network costs for high-bandwidth locations and simplify the complexity of maintaining multiple types of technologies. This solution also is available in 157 markets across the United States.

Businesses can benefit from VoIP and network efficiency with SIP Trunking

SIP Trunking from Sprint is available in 12 European countries including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Businesses can cost-effectively experience the benefits of voice over IP (VoIP) and enhance network efficiencies by converging all voice and data traffic on the Sprint Global MPLS network. Session Initiative Protocol (SIP) Trunking allows businesses to replace costly “physical trunks” connecting a PBX to a service provider network with “virtual trunks” over a single IP connection.

For more information on Sprint converged solutions, visit www.sprint.com/convergence or contact your Sprint account team. To join in the latest discussions and learn more about business solutions available through wireline convergence, visit the Seamless Enterprise at www.seamlessenterprise.com.

About the Magic Quadrant

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About Sprint Business Solutions

Sprint is a global provider of secure and reliable wireline and wireless communication services. With a best-in-class, all-IP network as the foundation, Sprint helps enterprises unleash the full potential of business-critical applications through a single account team that understands converged, cloud and mobility solutions, delivering an unrivalled customer experience.

About Sprint

Sprint (NYSE:S) offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint served more than 54 million customers at the end of the third quarter of 2013 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. The American Customer Satisfaction Index rated Sprint as the most improved company in customer satisfaction, across all 47 industries, during the last five years. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.

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