Vanco, the global virtual network operator, today announced extension of a key contract with global engineering giant Smiths Group. ] The contract is announced as Vanco expands its U.S. sales and marketing arm through its Universal Access acquisition, made earlier this year.

“We think this contract affirms the virtual service model for providing global service,” said David Perez, U.S. vice president for Vanco. “Global enterprises can’t go to a single carrier anymore to get a solution. Any global operation is looking for a best-of-breed of approach, and that is something we can deliver, as a virtual network operator.”

Vanco initially provided Smiths with “a global network to 100 locations across 25 countries and four continents with a predominance in Far East and Southeast Asia,” Perez said. Vanco took over operation of the IP network, working with or replacing local Internet service providers, depending on the specific situation.

“We are providing them with global management across a diverse geography,” he added. “A global enterprise needs an organization that can procure the infrastructure cost effectively, has the management systems and processes around the world to be able to manage that. We have the resources locally.”

Vanco operates in 230 countries, using many different carriers and has nine network management centers globally, all of which operate seamlessly on the same technology platforms, Perez said. “We haven’t had to go through the integration process many telcos do when they have mergers,” he said.

His company provides a single point of contact for enterprises who want to get the best price and most effective network in each location, he added. In the U.S., Vanco is now using the Universal Access assets, acquired in a bankruptcy auction last May, to increase the amount of business it does in this country, both for international enterprise looking for connectivity in the U.S. and U.S. companies operating domestically and internationally.

“We inherited there a very strong relationship with all of the RBOCs in the U.S. market from Universal Access,” he said. “We can deliver fiber routes across the U.S. in a very cost-effective way. We are doing two things in the U.S. – Vanco Direct, which is essentially what Universal Access was doing, and our international service. We can provide domestic connections across the country but the more global a customer is, the more our model takes hold.”