PCCW Global, headquartered in Hong Kong, is one of those companies that you may not have heard of, but, once you are introduced, amaze you by the breadth of services that they provide.
For starters, the company’s 17,000 employees connect customers in over 1,100 cities and 100 countries, supported from regional centers in Hong Kong, Herndon, Virginia in the United States, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, and London, England – plus a presence in mainland China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Argentina, Ivory Coast, Senegal, France, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Greece. Within the Americas, PCCW provides connectivity to the entire United States plus 90 percent of Canada, with a network that provides Tier 1 IP and MPLS (def.) service from a number points of presence (PoPs) that connect to both Europe and the Far East.
The firm serves both enterprise and wholesale customers with a number of IP-based services, including dedicated Internet access, IP transit, IP/MPLS virtual private networks (VPNs), hosted PBX, and wholesale voice services. In addition, the company owns significant fiber optic capacity throughout Asia, and provides MPLS Layer 2 Ethernet and wire services in Latin America and Southwest Asia. PCCW also connects its trans-Pacific traffic to cable systems in Asia, with the trans-Atlantic traffic connecting to their PoPs in Europe.
In addition to their IP networking services, they also provide international Ethernet private line service within the U.S. that connects to Asia and Europe, which was developed to support customers that require secure and dedicated high bandwidth connections, such as firms in the financial industry. PCCW has also developed peering relationships with major U.S. carriers, which are spread across several peering points around the globe. For U.S. companies needing connectivity to Central and South America, peering locations have been established in Miami, Florida, plus Dallas, McAllen, and Laredo in Texas, with high-speed connectivity agreements established with Latin American business partners. Finally, PCCW Global also offers communications services via more than 20 satellites, amounting to a footprint that covers geographies throughout Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, the Americas and Oceania.
Given the company’s global scope, it is not surprising that PCCW has gathered an impressive portfolio of industry awards, both in the United States and in other regions around the globe. These include: Frost & Sullivan’s Next Generation Network Service Provider of the Year for 2006; Africa Com Best Innovative Service Finalist for 2008; Gartner’s Best International Ethernet Provider for 2008 and 2009; World Communication’s Best Managed Services Award for 2008 and Top 10 User’s Choice Award for 2009; Telecoms World Middle East Best Customer Care Finalist for 2008 and Best Managed Services Award for 2009; plus Computerworld Hong Kong’s Best Data and Telecom Service Provider Award for 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010.
PCCW serves both the service provider and enterprise markets. The Service Provider Solutions includes IP and MPLS transport; fiber option connectivity; satellite-based video transmission, cellular backhaul, Internet trunking and teleport services; voice services including international voice termination, toll-free service and mobile messaging; plus managed services that encompass global audio conferencing, high definition video conferencing, VoIP switch partitioning, and managed equipment services.
The Enterprise Solutions include global Internet access; MPLS-based VPNs; fiber optic-based international managed bandwidth and international Ethernet private lines; satellite services, including maritime VSAT, satellite phone, video transmission, broadband VSAT, plus managed end-to-end VSAT service; and managed solutions, which include collocation, global audio conferencing, managed video conferencing, hosted PBX, and managed router and equipment services.
The hosted PBX service is designed to replace traditional telephone service, with the benefits of a reduced upfront investment while still maximizing voice and data service quality to the end users. PCCW has deployed this offering as a carrier-grade service, including a comprehensive Web-based portal for network administration that can easily manage the system’s advanced call and messaging functionality.
The hosted solution is designed to support either single- or multi-location enterprises, with capability to handle branch offices with existing PBX systems, plus remote or mobile users, all of which can be connected through a company-wide dialing plan that supports extension dialing.
Customer premises equipment can be either purchased direct or leased, and includes support for IP phones provided by Aastra, Cisco Systems, Grandstream, Polycom and Uniden. The system is designed to interoperate with existing enterprise firewalls and private IP addressing plans. Installation support includes specifications for router configurations to optimize both voice and data services on the high-speed connections, with service level agreements that guarantee call quality.
Further information on the PCCW solutions can be found at www.pccwglobal.com. Our next tutorial will continue our review of various service providers hosted voice solutions.
Author’s Biography
Mark A. Miller, P.E. is President of DigiNet Corporation®, a Denver-based consulting engineering firm. He is the author of many books on networking technologies, including Voice over IP Technologies, and Internet Technologies Handbook, both published by John Wiley & Sons.
