AT&T said it has been awarded a five-year global networking contract worth nearly $1 billion by General Motors.

The agreement extends an existing relationship under which AT&T already manages GM’s global VPN services, but it also gives AT&T responsibility for managing the performance of key regional telecommunications providers around the world, in addition to network management responsibility for participating telephone companies to drive consistent, uniform IT service delivery and support, according to a statement from AT&T.

The carrier will deliver network capabilities based on multiprotocol label switching that will allow GM to further integrate its global resources and continue an evolution toward standardized IP networking. In addition, GM named AT&T a strategic information technology supplier to support its third-generation information technology business model, which is designed to ensure that GM's IT suppliers are working as one around the world. In that role, AT&T will provide network-integration management covering all aspects of GM's worldwide telecommunications infrastructure, including voice and data applications and systems support. The carrier also will continue to collaborate with GM's Information Systems and Services organization to support its global business strategy.

An AT&T spokesman said in an e-mail that specific application benefits for GM employees will include “advanced video enablement for our employee’s workstations and handheld devices; enhanced global corporate communications, enabling all employees worldwide to join global meeting from their desktop; training and collaboration technologies for business application users; and convergence of existing separate voice, data and video networks into a single network providing reduced costs, increased commonality of services and the ability to better manage network capacity.”

He added that GM selected AT&T because its global footprint, scale and capabilities as GM looks to more simplified service delivery as it advances its own globalization plans.