Equant Positioned in Leaders Quadrant

The Gartner "Magic Quadrant for Global Network Service Providers 2005" was written by David Neil, Jean-Claude Delcroix, Jay E. Pultz and Neil Rickard, research directors of Gartner. This Magic Quadrant covers only truly global network service providers meeting the new Gartner Magic Quadrant methodology. Gartner defines vendors listed in the Leaders quadrant as performing well today, having a clear vision of market direction and are actively building competencies to sustain their leadership position in the market.

According to Gartner, the market is much more healthy today -- all providers have improved their financial status and a few are in good shape.

Equant was evaluated on its "ability to execute" and "completeness of vision," which reflect the following specific criteria:

• Ability to Execute: Product/Service, Overall Viability, Sales Execution/Pricing, Market Responsiveness and Track Record, Marketing Execution, Customer Experience and Operations.
• Completeness of Vision: Market Understanding, Marketing Strategy, Sales Strategy, Offering (Product) Strategy, Business Model, Vertical/Industry Strategy, Innovation and Geographic Strategy.

"Having a strategic vision and being able to execute on that vision is at the heart of Equant's customer promise," said Barbara Dalibard, president and CEO, Equant, and France Telecom Group executive vice president, Enterprise Communication Services Division. "We are honored to be recognized in the Leaders quadrant in Gartner's 2005 Global Magic Quadrant for Network Service Providers. We believe Equant leads the market with what we call double edge-convergence: IP convergence plus IT/Telecom convergence. We bring real value to customers and help them improve the way they do business by supporting double edge-convergence with innovation."

About Equant Equant is a recognized industry leader in global communications services for multinational businesses. Equant combines its network expertise with its expanded services capabilities to provide global, integrated and customized communication services to enable its customers - key business processes. 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 more than 1,400 global businesses. Equant, a subsidiary of France Telecom, consistently leads industry surveys in corporate user satisfaction. The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted Dec. 15, 2005 by Gartner Inc. and is reused with permission, which permission should not be deemed to be an endorsement of any company or product depicted in the quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is Gartner Inc.'s opinion and is an analytical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It measures vendors against Gartner defined criteria for a marketplace. The positioning of vendors within a Magic Quadrant is based on the complex interplay of many factors. Gartner does not advise enterprises to select only those firms in the "Leaders"quadrant. In some situations, firms in the Visionary, Challenger, or Niche Player quadrants may be the right matches for an enterprise's requirements. Well-informed vendor selection decisions should rely on more than a Magic Quadrant. Gartner research is intended to be one of many information sources including other published information and direct analyst interaction. Gartner Inc. expressly disclaims all warranties, express or implied, of fitness of this research for a particular purpose.

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