Qwest Communications International Inc. (NYSE:Q) today announced that it has signed an extended three-year $5.4 million agreement with St. Louis, Mo.-based Scottrade, Inc., a leading online brokerage firm.
With this service upgrade, Qwest will connect more than 260 Scottrade branches with Qwest iQ Networking service, the company's multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) wide-area networking (WAN) solution.
Scottrade chose this upgrade to accommodate its large amount of growth and the need for additional applications. Qwest will migrate Scottrade from a Qwest Private Routed Network, one of the market-leading IP virtual private network (VPN) data networking solutions, to Qwest iQ Networking, which is a new suite of WAN services that powers customers' business operations on its nationwide IP network.
"Scottrade differentiates itself from competitors through its 268 branch offices, and Qwest's superior customer service will continue to provide our customers with the reliability they have come to expect from our branch locations," said Ian Patterson, chief information officer of Scottrade. "Qwest understands our business and was easy to do business with."
"We are excited to be a part of the solution for the tremendous growth of Scottrade," said Tom Richards, executive vice president of business markets group for Qwest. "Scottrade is a longtime Qwest customer, and we are proud to continue to provide the company with the Spirit of Service network philosophy that fits its business needs."
Qwest launched iQ Networking in early 2004 to give customers an end-to-end WAN service that supports the entire spectrum of data, voice and video business applications. Qwest iQ Networking focuses on solving problems, reducing total cost and delivering an unparalleled service experience.