08/02/2005

QSC wins contract from Commerzbank to network 280 branches

Cologne, August 2, 2005 - QSC AG (QSC), a nationwide telecommunication provider with its own DSL network, has succeeded against two further telecommunication service providers in winning this year´s "New Network Architecture" contract from Commerzbank. The company won the contract to network 280 branches into the bank´s wide area enterprise network (E-WAN). This means that QSC will be equipping some 30 percent of Commerzbank´s network infrastructure with QSC VPN technology. The broadband network will handle a variety of traffic, ranging from simple e-mail correspondence to secure transmission of customer data right through to multicasting applications (e.g. video streaming and VoIP). The contract will run for an initial term of 60 months.

With this contract, Commerzbank is replacing the leased-line technology of its networks with high-performance symmetrical DSL lines from QSC that offer higher-level applications at lower cost. Commerzbank had already had an opportunity to gather experience with QSC in 2003 within the framework of a pilot project to connect automated teller machines in around 80 locations to the Commerzbank network.

"It was QSC´s good quality, high level of technical competence and on-time execution, first and foremost, that convinced us to go with them as a provider," explains Rolf Lautenschläger, Manager Network Infrastructure IT Production at Commerzbank. "What was also important to us, was the fact that the efficient utilization of modern VPN technology will provide us with a better cost structure and with greater flexibility and performance of the networks."

Bernd Puschendorf, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at QSC AG, adds: "For QSC, this contract from Commerzbank marks a further major success in VPN business. We view this as an expression of confidence in the quality of our services and our competence as a solutions provider."

About Commerzbank
With a consolidated balance-sheet total of more than €420bn, Commerzbank is Germany´s third-largest private-sector bank and one of Europe´s leading financial institutions. Its 33,000 employees, 7,400 of whom work outside Germany, look after almost 8 million customers. Apart from the parent bank, Commerzbank AG, the Group consists of numerous subsidiaries in Germany and abroad.
Commerzbank sees itself as an efficient provider of financial services for sophisticated private customers in Germany and also as a creative relationship bank for successful German Mittelstand firms, for major corporates and institutions in Europe, and for multinational companies throughout the world. Commerzbank intends to expand its market shares in these core target groups. Above all, it intends to become the number one address for Germany´s Mittelstand.
In regional terms, Commerzbank concentrates on Germany, where as an integrated provider of financial services it maintains a nationwide branch network for advising customers and distributing products. In corporate business, it also looks upon Western, Central and Eastern Europe as its core markets, as well as the USA, where it has a long and profitable tradition.

About QSC
Cologne-based QSC AG (QSC) is a nationwide telecommunication provider with its own DSL network, supplying businesses and premium residential customers with a comprehensive portfolio of broadband communication options ranging from leased lines in various bandwidths to voice and data services right through to custom enterprise networks (VPN). QSC operates on a nearly nationwide scale and connects together with its subsidiary celox more than 100 German cities with its own broadband network infrastructure. The group presently employs a workforce of some 460 people and is a member of the TecDAX 30, representing Germany´s 30 leading public technology companies.

For further information please contact:

QSC AG
Claudia Zimmermann
Corporate Spokeswoman
Mathias-Brüggen-Str. 55
50829 Cologne
Fon: +49(0)221-6698-235
Fax: +49(0)221-6698-289
E-mail: presse@qsc.de