Marconi Wins Order Worth Up to $475 Million to Deploy Wireless Local Loop System for German Voice/Data Network VIAG Interkom to Deploy Marconi Solution
WEDNESDAY, JULY 26, 2000 9:16:00 AM EST
PITTSBURGH, Jul 26, 2000 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Marconi MCONY, a global supplier of advanced communications solutions, announced today that it has signed a contract with VIAG Interkom, one of Germany's leading national network operators, for the deployment of its nationwide DMS (digital multi- point system) broadband wireless access system in up to 200 franchise areas across Germany, giving customers links for voice, data and multimedia Internet applications.
The order follows successful trials of the system in Bavaria and Brandenburg and is expected to have a total value by 2003 of more than one billion German Deutsche Marks (or about $475 million).
VIAG Interkom is already a major fixed network and GSM mobile network provider in Germany and the Marconi contract is a key part of its strategy to rapidly expand its SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) network to its key target markets of SME (small and medium enterprise) customers.
"This is a significant order in an important region and a further foothold for us in the German market," said Peter Brown, President of the EMEA Group of Marconi. "It is an endorsement of the successful integration of the public networks division of Bosch Telecom, acquired in January of this year. VIAG Interkom is a dynamic, fast moving operator, who has recognized Marconi's ability to provide the full set of technology, speed and build, in providing solutions for their network demands. Orders for potentially over one billion Deutsch Marks in Germany and over two billion pounds in UK in the same week are an indication of Marconi's strengths in the most advanced communications markets in the world."
The Marconi DMS point-to-multipoint system will allow VIAG Interkom to provide data pipes of up to 8Mbit/s to customers. A major advantage of DMS for VIAG Interkom is its speed and economy of deployment. VIAG Interkom will be able to install appropriate extra bandwidth as customer demand rises rather than having to wire whole areas before signing up individual customers. The shorter payback times on capital investment will allow the customer to minimize financing charges and respond quickly to new line requests. At the same time, the system's ease of redeployment will allow the company to move groups of customers over to traditional wired access when customer concentrations merit doing so.
Commenting on the decision to award the contract to Marconi, Werner Fraas, Managing Director of VIAG Interkom, said: "We needed to move fast and Marconi was the only company which could offer us the right technology and assure us of immediate availability of network-build quantities. We also worked with the Marconi teams on our GSM roll-out, installing several thousand radio links a year, and so we knew that they had the project management skills to handle the scale of our new network."
Installation of the systems by Marconi Services is already underway. DMS can be operated over a generous range of frequencies within the same unit, providing links over distances up to 15 kilometers.
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.
Note: VIAG Interkom GmbH & Co is a joint venture between E.ON Aktiengesellschaft (45%), British Telecommunications plc (45%) and the Norwegian Telenor AS (10%). The company meets all its private and business customers' needs in the field of telecommunications. The product portfolio is based on the company's own fixed and mobile network infrastructure providing direct access for customers. The company focuses on integrated solutions.
The VIAG Interkom order follows in the same week as Marconi has announced a five-year contract with BT, estimated by Marconi to be worth more than 2 billion pounds sterling, for the supply of optical networking and the high performance SDH equipment and related services.
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CONTACT: Investor Relations: Charlie Foreman, +44 207 306 1545, or charlie.foreman@marconi.com, or Media Relations: Brian Dolby, +44 115 906 4687, or brian.dolby@marconicomms.com, both of Marconi.
SOURCE Marconi plc
CONTACT:Investor Relations: Charlie Foreman, +44 207 306 1545, or
charlie.foreman@marconi.com, or Media Relations: Brian Dolby,
+44 115 906 4687, or brian.dolby@marconicomms.com, both of Marconi
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