TORONTO – MTS Allstream has secured a three-year, $2.5-million contract to design, build and manage a MPLS network for the Canadian Payments Association (CPA). The network will span 15 sites across Canada and will be one of two used to deploy CPA’s Truncation and Electronic Cheque Presentment project, an initiative aimed at modernizing the cheque-clearing process.
“We’re pleased to be providing the CPA with a robust secure network that can support their national cheque imaging project,” MTS Allstream president of Enterprise Solutions John MacDonald said Wednesday. “This contract speaks to the integrity of our network, and our 20-year history of building complex connectivity solutions that support our customers’ development of leading-edge communications solutions.”
The CPA’s Truncation and Electronic Cheque Presentation, expected to begin at the end of 2008, will use image technology to eliminate the current practice of physically transporting 5 million paper checks between Canadian financial institutions each business day. Instead, images of the front and back of each check will be transmitted over a secure MPLS network to the appropriate financial institution.
“We feel confident in MTS Allstream’s ability to deploy and manage this complex network solution, which will be integral to the implementation of the new faster and more efficient cheque clearing process,” said CPA vice-president of technology and CIO Mark Ripplinger.
