Equant Appoints Benoît Merel CFO

September 8, 2004 - (HostReview.com) - Effective Sept.10, 2004, Benoît Merel will become acting chief financial officer at Equant. He replaces Jacques Kerrest who is leaving Equant to pursue other opportunities.

Merel has a strong international background in the telecom industry and has held several executive finance functions. He served as head of the Controlling Department of France Telecom Group since January 2000. He held various positions of responsibility at France Telecom and at the audit firm Mazars, where he managed major financial aspects, such as controlling, long term planning, budgeting and financial reporting.

Merel will remain acting CFO until the appointment of a new CFO.

Equant  is a recognized industry leader in global communications infrastructure services for multinational businesses.

Equant serves thousands of the world's top companies, with the industry's most extensive portfolio of communications services and network solutions, including the market-leading IP VPN used by nearly 1,300 global businesses. Equant, a subsidiary of France Telecom, was named Best Global Carrier 2003 and Best Managed Service 2003 at the World Communication Awards and consistently leads industry surveys in corporate user satisfaction.