Luxury Auto Maker BMW Selects Sprint to Provide Network Services for Operations in the Americas

Sprint (www.sprint.com) today announced a new three-year, multimillion-dollar agreement with BMW Group Data Center Americas to provide data network services that will enable the automaker to connect its operations in North America, South America and Latin America.

Under the agreement, Sprint will provide all data services to BMW Group in the Americas, including a highly secure peerless IP (Internet protocol) network. The government-grade peerless IP network is a solution originally aimed squarely at meeting the increasing security and performance demands of many federal and state government agencies.

Sprint is also teaming with strategic alliance partner Cisco Systems to deliver advanced, high-speed data services through an IP Virtual Private Network (VPN).

"Network reliability and performance are critical to our ability to conduct business efficiently," said Danny Marzka, senior network engineer with BMW Group Data Center Americas.

The agreement also includes Internet private line services and high-speed Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) data services, which allow for both voice and data communications over a single, converged network.

"Sprint has built a specific competency around designing communications services for manufacturers," said Tom McEvoy, president - Enterprise Markets, Sprint.

"IP-based networking solutions are revolutionizing business operations across a broad spectrum of vertical industries," said Scott Westlake, manufacturing industry marketing manager, Cisco Systems.

Sprint also provides industry-leading Service Level Agreements (SLAs), including jitter SLAs. Jitter is a variation in latency, or waiting time, on a network and is very important for corporations who rely on data networks for their business.

In May, Sprint announced that BMW Group was utilizing its high-speed wireless technology to connect portable kiosks to promote its new X3 Sports Activity Vehicle.