British Telecommunications plc (BT), a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group has signed a $650 million, five-year contract with Consumer packaged goods manufacturer Procter & Gamble (P&G), for providing information technology services.

Under the agreement, BT will provide and manage P&G's local and wide area network infrastructure across more than 1,100 locations in more than 82 countries. Further, the company will migrate these services to a state-of-the-art, high-speed, Internet Protocol (IP)-based global MPLS (multiprotocol label switching) infrastructure.

The company will also provide and manage perimeter security and firewall services, conferencing, remote access, voice and IP telephony services, and Internet services to support P&G's IT requirements.

Procter & Gamble is no stranger to big outsourcing deals. In 2003, the company signed a 10-year, $3 billion outsourcing deal with HP, and a $400 million multi-year deal for human resources services from IBM.

The portfolio of managed services is expected to enable P&G to benefit from greater cost efficiency and control through a standardised, flexible and future-proof communications infrastructure platform with enhanced service levels to users.

BT is one of the world's leading providers of communications solutions and services operating in 170 countries. The company provides local, long distance and international telecommunications, Internet and mobile telephone services.