Here's an extremely interesting article today in an Ottawa local newspaper. Further evidence that NN's ATM wins are stealing business from traditional telephony switch providers such as NT and LU? This is a multi-multi billion dollar business world wide...
September 24, 1997
ATM BACKBONE INSTALLED
STENTOR CHOOSES NEWBRIDGE FOR NATIONAL NETWORK
By STUART McCARTHY -- Technology Editor
ÿ Canada's provincial phone companies under the Stentor umbrella have chosen Newbridge Networks to power its next-generation communications backbone, the Sun has learned.
ÿThe multi-million dollar, coast-to-coast asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network was installed at breakneck speed and is already providing broadband services to corporate clients, says Dave Southwell, Bell Canada's chief technology officer.
ÿThe win is a particularly strong endorsement of Newbridge's ATM technology over hometown rival Nortel, especially since Bell, Nortel and Stentor share common ownership -- BCE.
ÿ"Nortel would like to have it all," said Southwell. "But we are working with Newbridge."
ÿSouthwell said the network, with Newbridge-Siemens MainStreetXpress 36170 switches, was built in just over three months.
ÿ"The reality is the old public switched networks, the voice networks, are not designed to carry the data networks."
ÿSouthwell says that's why Bell and the other Stentor partners built the ATM network, which will eventually carry every bit of the telcos' voice, data, multimedia services and Internet-Intranet traffic.
ÿ"The Internet service is already on it," says Southwell. "We're moving all our data services in that direction and you'll see voice migrating over as well."
ÿThat network is what Ottawa-based iSTAR Internet signed a $20 million service deal for recently.
ÿCarol Stephenson, president and CEO of Stentor Canadian Network Management, which operates the national backbone, says this is a level of technology that even the U.S. doesn't have, because its regional carriers are so fragmented.
ÿ"We looked at what had the best features, best price, compatibility -- there were a whole host of factors," said Stephenson.
ÿShe said the decisions of both British Telecom and MCI Communications in the U.S. to use Newbridge's products, factored strongly into the Stentor decision.
ÿStentor is the Canadian alliance partner with the new BT-MCI consortium called Concert.
ÿThe Canadian ATM backbone now provides what is likely the world's largest single public ATM network, from Canada to the U.S. and into the U.K.
ÿRichard Woo, an analyst with Thomson, Kernaghan and Co., said Newbridge's 36170 switch is gaining rapid acceptance because "it offers multiple platforms essential to efficient management.
ÿ"In terms of ATM, if you are buying now, you want to future-proof your investment," he said.
ÿWhile the BT-MCI deals were "a non-brainer" according to Woo, he says Newbridge still has a tough nut to crack with the U.S. regional Bell's. |
