Equant sees physical coverage complete

International network operator Equant (NYSE: ENT) sees its physical coverage in Latin America as sufficient to fulfill its business plan, Guillermo Monroy, Equant sales and marketing director for Latin America, told BNamericas. "Basically we are already where we want to be. The coverage is there," he said. Equant has more than 160 network points of presence in Latin America and employs 850 people in 31 countries. The company's connectivity needs are for the most part satisfied through the use of third party infrastructure rather than its own facilities. The region accounts for about 10% of annual revenues, which last year totaled US$3.2bn. Equant's sales strategy in Latin America is focused on the top 1,000 multinational companies with a presence in the region and the 30 largest local companies in each market. "Latin America is a strategic area where our company has to be because of our [focus] on the biggest companies. Where do the biggest corporations expand? The Far East and Latin America," he said. "Despite the ups and downs of Latin American economies we see the number of new companies growing every year." According to Monroy, the company wants to increase its revenues from existing clients while at the same time trying to capture more of its target clients. "We expect and are working to increase the [revenues] of our customers. And in order to sustain our growth we need to capture the business of additional customers," Monroy said. Equant emerged in 1997 from a French company called Scitor, which provided global data services to a wide range of industries. Equant merged with France Telecom's global telecoms unit Global One in November 2000. It provides data and IP network and integration services for multinational businesses, based on its global backbone covering 220 countries and territories, with local support in more than 165 countries.