(COMTEX) B: Marconi Wins Multi-Billion Dollar British Telecom Optical Network Contract
For SmartPhotoniX Equipment; BT Illuminates Marconi's Optical Strategy
PITTSBURGH, Jul 24, 2000 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Marconi (LONDON: MNI), a
global supplier of advanced communications solutions, today announced that it
has been selected by British Telecom as a key strategic technology partner to
realize its vision of building Europe's most advanced all optical network.
(Photo: newscom.com )
"Today's announcement demonstrates Marconi's world leading position in advanced
optical networking and in DWDM in particular," said Mike Parton, CEO of Marconi
Communications. "Our optical networks solutions are designed to provide a smooth
introduction of DWDM, delivering massively increased broadband capacity under
the same management system as existing networks with no interruption to customer
service levels or management processes."
With the explosive growth in demand for bandwidth, the five-year contract is
estimated by Marconi to be worth more than $3 billion and is for the supply of
Optical Networking and new high performance SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy)
equipment, and related services. Marconi will build a complete next generation
Optical Network providing their full range of SmartPhotoniX DWDM products
exhibited recently at SUPERCOMM2000 in Atlanta. Marconi was also selected as the
sole supplier to extend BT's existing core SDH network, which will continue to
carry growth in traffic at lower bandwidths.
"This contract is a great endorsement of Marconi's solutions to the challenges
of network transformation necessary for operators who are going to lead in the
Internet age. We can think of no better partner with whom to build and operate
Europe's most advanced optical network," added Parton.
More than 800 members of the Marconi staff are already working on network
design, project management and field force delivery and integration for the BT
project, which will create an optical network for the rest of Europe's service
providers to follow.
Welcoming the landmark deployment for BT, Paul Reynolds, CEO of BT Wholesale,
said "This all new Optical Broadband Network will be a key differentiator for BT
in terms of both capacity and flexibility. By focusing investment in this area,
BT is demonstrating its commitment to maintaining its market and technical
leadership in this key growth area. Marconi's extensive optical network product
range, its ability to provide solutions, together with its service and support
capabilities, have clearly differentiated them in our selection process and will
be vital to us as we move forward together."
About Marconi plc
Marconi plc is a global communications and IT company with 49,000 employees
worldwide and sales in over 100 countries. It supplies advanced communications
solutions and the key technologies and services for the Internet. Marconi plc is
listed on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol MNI. The headquarters of
Marconi Communications is in Pittsburgh, PA.
All brand or product names are trademarks of their respective holders.
CONTACT: Charlie Foreman, Investor Relations, 44 207 306 1545, or
charlie.foreman@marconi.com, or Brian Dolby, Media Relations, 44 115 906 4687,
or brian.dolby@marconicomms.com, both of Marconi.
SOURCE Marconi plc
CONTACT: Charlie Foreman, Investor Relations, 44 207 306 1545, or
charlie.foreman@marconi.com, or Brian Dolby, Media Relations,
44 115 906 4687,
or brian.dolby@marconicomms.com, both of Marconi
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