KPNQwest Delivers pan-European IP VPN for Opodo

February 28, 2002 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- KPNQwest (kpnqwest.com), a leading pan-European provider of data communications and hosting services, announced on Thursday that it has signed a contract with Opodo (opodo.com), an online travel company created by nine of Europe’s leading airlines, to provide a multi-site IP VPN connecting sites across Europe.

Opodo is the result of a combined effort of Aer Lingus, Air France, Alitialia, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, KLM and Lufthansa.

According to the terms of the deal, KPNQwest will provide Opodo with scalable IP VPN service interconnecting locations across Europe by the second quarter of 2002. Opodo intends to extend its reach following that, for the remainder of 2002 and beyond. The IP VPN will become the core network supporting Opodo’s enterprise resource planning applications, online transactions, billing and ticket distribution.

The network, says KPNQwest, is secure and reliable, providing full redundancy in an architecture designed to eliminate single points of failure through measures such as dual local tails. Sites in Germany and the UK, says the company, have already been connected.

"We wanted a modern, Internet-centric network platform to support the dynamic needs of a progressive online travel company," says Giovanni Bisignani, CEO of Opodo. "We selected KPNQwest because they provided the pan-European coverage, security and service quality we demand to support our business-critical applications and customer requirements."

KPNQwest says The IP VPN service will help Opodo users access the portal to receive airfares and care rentals, travel insurance and advice with speed and reliability. The all-IP platform can be easily scaled to include more locations, or to provide additional bandwidth to support growing requirements. The service can also be used by Opodo to combine its voice and data communications seamlessly on one network.