Great NEWS....NorthPoint Communications Partners With Lucent
Technologies to Increase Network Capacity and Speed Expansion as Demand for DSL Continues to Surge
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- NorthPoint Communications (Nasdaq: NPNT - news) today announced an agreement with Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU - news) that will enable it to quickly add capacity to its digital subscriber line (DSL) network, speed network expansion, and deliver advanced new broadband services and features to homes and businesses.
NorthPoint is deploying Lucent's PacketStar (TM) Access Concentrator PSAX 1250 in its national DSL backbone, a network that currently spans nearly 2,000 cities and towns across 33 major U.S. markets. As demand for NorthPoint DSL continues to accelerate, NorthPoint will use the PacketStar access concentrators to aggregate network traffic across multiple DSL access multiplexors (DSLAMs) onto a single DS3 or higher speed line to its central node locations. The agreement with Lucent
enables NorthPoint to quickly scale its network as it expands into the fast-growing mass consumer market.
Under the agreement, Lucent will also provide NorthPoint with data networking services, including installation and maintenance
of the equipment, through its NetCare® services group.
''By expanding its network to more locations nationwide faster than any of its competitors, NorthPoint has fueled demand for its DSL-based high-speed Internet access service,'' said Bao Le, NorthPoint's vice president of operations and engineering. ''Through this agreement with Lucent, NorthPoint ensures its ability to quickly build network capacity and to deliver the feature-rich set of services our customers are seeking.''
In addition to increasing network capacity and speeding network expansion, NorthPoint expects its agreement with Lucent and other vendors to facilitate the introduction of new services, including consumer-class DSL, voice over DSL and quality of service features. ''NorthPoint's partnership with Lucent will give us increased flexibility in deploying new services currently under development,'' added Le.
''As NorthPoint moves rapidly into large-scale deployment of DSL services, the company needs a solution that will enable it to expand its network cost- effectively, as well as allow it to provide new services reliably,'' said Curt Sanford, group president, InterNetworking Systems, Lucent. ''We're very pleased that NorthPoint has chosen Lucent to provide a complete solution that allows them to tap into the exploding DSL services market.''
NorthPoint's agreement with Lucent builds on an existing relationship that has played an important role in bringing new broadband services to the under- served small and midsize business market. Lucent has served as a technology partner to NorthPoint since March 1998, when the company began deploying the first ''symmetric'' DSL network specifically designed for the broadband needs of the business market. Lucent has previously provided NorthPoint its market- leading CBX
500(TM) and B-STDX 9000(TM) Multiservice Wide Area Network (WAN) switches.
Let's get the show on the ROAD!
Chris |
