Humanitarian organisation, Australian Red Cross, has signed a three year deal with Primus Telecom, a part of Primus Telecommunications Group, to provide a data network solution to its network of branch offices and other sites across Australia.

The agreement will see Primus delivering service to 83 sites initially with potential for up to a further 180 sites to come online. Primus anticipates some of these additional sites to come online in 2012 and expects the deal value to ultimately exceed $1 million.

Primus has designed a fully managed Private IP Network (PIPN) for Australian Red Cross, which will include a meshed MPLS network core, capable of integrating voice, data and video traffic on a single platform. The PIPN will ensure that in the event of natural disaster, the network’s bandwidth can be rapidly increased to support Australian Red Cross requirements. The solution will support both ‘Open Shortest Path First’ and ‘Border Gateway’ protocols, and provides 50Mbps internet bandwidth with an unlimited data plan.

“We were impressed with Primus’ ability to deliver a technical solution which offered the optimal solution for our current objectives and requirements with the future proof security of a fully-scalable network,” said Warren Don, Director Information Technology, Australian Red Cross. “As a rapid response organisation, we value the provision of Primus’ end to end account management and help desk, which adds another layer of confidence and expertise to their impressive service delivery.”

Australian Red Cross undertook an extensive strategic review of its communications needs as it extended its reach and activities within Australia. The review was designed to upgrade its existing telecommunication and data platforms and ensure that it upgraded to a fully managed and secure solution that would readily scale to meet the ever increasing demands on its IT solutions as the Australian Red Cross works to improve the lives of vulnerable people within Australia and internationally. The deal was secured following Primus’ recently announced upgrade and investment in its metro fibre network.

“The agreement with Primus will significantly enhance Red Cross’s current communications infrastructure and allow it to both streamline its operations and offer an improved level of quality and reliability to its Australian network of offices and stakeholders, “ said Tom Mazerski, Primus Australia CEO. “Our recent investment in upgrading our fibre network further boosts our reputation for excellence as we seek to become the communications partner of choice for a growing number of Australian organisations who demand the very best platform service delivery to further their business objectives.”