Republic Picks AT&T

Let it not be said that t is afraid to get its hands dirty.  Today they announced a contract to provide VPN services to Republic Services ^[1], which specializes in the collection, transport, disposal, and recycling of waste.  That’s right, AT&T is going to hook up everything from the dumps (err, sorry I mean landfills) to the corporate offices.  They’ll be providing voice, data, and video to some 759 sites in a $13.5M three year deal.  Republic Services merged with Allied Waste in December, and this contract is part of their integration process.

No, it’s not huge for AT&T, but for me it emphasizes the size of the gap between the next generation telecoms and the real titans.  First, 759 sites is a heck of a lot, it’s an entirely different view of  the ‘multi-site’ contract.  Who else has assets that cover that kind of ground?  Second, the lack of glamour serves as a reminder that so much of this business is about blocking and tackling.  The high profile, cutting edge clients get all the press, but you don’t get to be a titan unless you can win this kind of deal too.  In this century, modern data services will be needed by companies of all types – even the ones with fleets of garbage trucks.