AT&T Wins Networking Contract from B. Braun

July 28, 2005; 05:53 AM

MELSUNGEN, Germany – July 28, 2005 - AT&T has won a three-year contract from the B. Braun Group, a global health care leader with sales of $3.4 billion and a staff of 30,000, to operate the company’s global data network. The contract will initially connect 41 corporate locations in 33 countries. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Located in Melsungen in northern Hesse, Germany, B. Braun produces and distributes health care products and services in 50 countries across Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. AT&T will provide and operate an MPLS-based Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network (IP VPN), which will increase B.Braun’s capacity and efficiency while lowering operating costs .

“We see our company as a trendsetter – in products, future-oriented services and the application of the latest technologies. By making consistent use of the technical possibilities available, we are able to implement our knowledge quickly and on a worldwide basis in order to tap into new markets,” stated Karl-Heinz Löw, Chief Information Officer at B. Braun Melsungen AG on the significance of the cooperation with AT&T. “Not only does our corporate network provide the basis for this, it is also already geared toward meeting future requirements.”

By placing the contract with AT&T, B. Braun is consolidating from two network operators to one. “We are creating universal service levels, which will allow us to achieve significantly improved reporting and monitoring functions,” according to Löw.

About AT&T
For more than 125 years, AT&T (NYSE "T") has been known for unparalleled quality and reliability in communications. Backed by the research and development capabilities of AT&T Labs, the company is a global leader in local, long distance, Internet and transaction-based voice and data services.

About the B. Braun Group
B. Braun supplies the global healthcare market with products for anesthesia, intensive medicine, cardiology, extra corporeal blood treatment and surgery.  They also supply services for hospitals, general practitioners and the homecare sector. 

Through dialogue with those who are using B. Braun’s products on a daily basis, the company is continually gaining new knowledge which is incorporates into product development.  In this way, the company contributes innovative products and services towards optimizing working procedures in hospitals and medical practices all over the world - improving safety for patients, doctors and nursing staff.

With almost 30,000 employees in 50 countries, B. Braun had a turnover in 2004 of around EUR 2.79bn.