On the heels of an announcement that it would target the healthcare sector this year, a Chicago-based telecom information and logistics company reportedly says it’s poised to help a major European provider optimize its network.

 

Officials at Global Capacity say they won a network optimization contract from an incumbent provider that serves 10 nations in the Old World that spend more than $31 on its services.

 

According to Global Capacity’s chief executive officer, Patrick Shutt, the company’s information base and automated systems and tools help clients achieve cost reductions.

 

“Our demonstrated ability to help customers reduce the cost and improve the efficiency of their access networks has never been more important than right now in this economic environment, and we are pleased that customers continue to place their trust in us to help them achieve their objectives,” Shutt said.

 

As TMCnet’s Anil Sharma reported recently, Global Capacity is targeting the healthcare vertical market, which represents more than 15 percent of the comapany’s revenues today. By current estimates, U.S. healthcare spending is around 15.2 percent of the gross domestic product, and experts expect that share of GDP to continue an upward trend, reaching 19.5 percent by 2017.

 

According to a study done by Insight Research Corporation, within this share the U.S. healthcare industry is targeted to spend $55 billion on telecommunications solutions over the next five years.

 

Global Capacity also appears to be targeting a fertile telecom market by eyeing penetration in Europe.

 

As TMCnet reported today, though it varies widely from nation to nation, consumer VoIP adoption in Europe is increasing rapidly, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting and market analysis firm is reporting today.

 

Officials at TeleGeography Research, a division of PriMetrica, Inc., say that VoIP services are reshaping Europe’s fixed-line phone market. Last summer, nearly 30 million consumer VoIP lines had been in use in western Europe, up from just 20 million the prior year.

 

According to Patrick Christian, an analyst at the firm, Europe may have a single market, but it’s far from common.

 

“However, while the uptake of IP telephony services varies widely, VoIP has been a powerful spur to innovation, even in some countries with relatively modest numbers of VoIP subscribers,” he said.

 

TeleGeography says that Europe had about 35 million VoIP lines at the end of last year.

 

Here’s a nation-by-nation breakdown of VoIP penetration in households, comparing the second quarter of 2007 with the same three-month period in 2008:

 

 

Officials at Global Capacity say they provide a fully integrated telecommunications supply chain management system that streamlines and accelerates the process of designing, pricing, building, optimizing, and managing customized communications networks.