Reaping The Benefits From Global Networking

Posted on Monday 02 Apr 2007

As AT&T Williams unveiled its 2007 FW29 Formula One car at the team’s headquarters at Grove, Oxfordshire at the start of the month, so AT&T announced its plans to support the team in the forthcoming 2007 Formula One World Championship season. AT&T is implementing a comprehensive, fully managed communications solution for the team, as part of a multiyear title sponsor agreement announced in October 2006. Through the application of communications technology, AT&T aims to help the team gain a competitive advantage and is supporting the team with its advanced portfolio of Internet Protocol (IP)-based communications services. The relationship with the team will provide AT&T with a global showcase for its products and services and will directly improve performance and resources of the AT&T Williams team in the increasingly demanding world of motor sport where pushing the boundaries of technology is key to success. Even before the start of the 2007 Formula One season, the AT&T Williams team has already seen immediate benefits. During a recent test session at the Jerez circuit in Spain, AT&T delivered a fivefold improvement in network performance. This gave the team significantly enhanced productivity and the opportunity to make real-time adjustments to the car, based on live data transmitted from the test sessions to the team’s facilities in Oxford. To transfer 100MB files between Jerez and Grove historically averaged between 40 and 50 minutes. The reason: previously, the team transferred data on a shared network and had to contend with other customers using a common wide area network provided on first-come, first- served basis. Since the deployment of the AT&T global network, file transfers have averaged 8.5 minutes.