Alcatel awarded a wet & dry contract worth more than 100 million
US$ to upgrade the Southern Cross Cable Network with 10Gbit/s
DWDM
Alcatel to implement leading terrestrial and submarine 10Gbit/s technology
for a 30,000 km optical network,
connecting the US to Asia Pacific, using a combination of FEC and Super FEC
technologies
Paris, July 16, 2001 - Alcatel, (Paris: CGEP.PA and NYSE: ALA), world leader in intelligent
optical networking, has been awarded a contract worth more than 100 million US$ by
Southern Cross Cable Network. The contract is for Alcatel to equip the third fiber pair in
the Southern Cross network with 10Gbit/s capacity per wavelength. Alcatel will supply
submarine line DWDM terminals and terrestrial SDH equipment - both operating at 10Gbit/s.
The upgrade of the Southern Cross Cable Network is made possible by using Alcatel
Super FEC (Super Forward Error Correction) technology for submarine terminals.
Super FEC is able to both supervise and correct the detected errors of the signal
transmission along the system for larger transmission bands than 2.5Gbit/s, making it
possible to send wavelengths operating at 10Gbit/s over submersible plant (cable and
repeaters) that was initially designed to operate at 2.5Gbit/s. The network will also take
benefit from multiplexers dedicated for high-speed and fully secured core transport
systems with the Alcatel 10 Gbit/s multi-service node. Thanks to its non-blocking and
powerful architecture, this system allows the choice of the most suitable network
configuration for evolving network requirements as well as cost reduction and enhanced
service quality.
The contract covers two phases. The first involves adding 50Gbit/s (5x10Gbit/s) to the
initial total network capacity of 80Gbit/s. The second phase will add a further 110Gbit/s of
capacity (11x10Gbit/s) to reach a total of 240Gbit/s of fully protected capacity. The two
phases are expected to be completed by early 2003.
"This is a tremendous milestone allowing Southern Cross to deliver sufficient capacity for
Australasia's broadband internet revolution" stated Fiona Beck, President and CEO of
Southern Cross. "The commissioning of the Southern Cross network in November last
year kick-started the move to broadband access. The additional capacity this contract
delivers allows Southern Cross to really fuel the widespread adoption of broadband
internet access over the next two or three years."
"Alcatel's dedication to finding innovative solutions means that customers, like Southern
Cross, benefit from the latest optical transmission technology to maximize the capabilities
of existing networks," said Christian Reinaudo, President of Alcatel's Optics Group. "This
upgrade is a technical breakthrough confirming Alcatel as the leader in end-to-end optical
networking. After working as a partner with our clients to construct extensive networks,
Alcatel designs and implements upgrades to provide its customers with customized
solutions for specific requirements".
The Southern Cross network connects the U.S. mainland, Hawaii, Fiji, New Zealand and
Australia. It went into service November 2000 providing Australasia with a fully protected
direct link to the heart of the Internet in California.
Alcatel has been the major supplier for the construction of the network and has been
responsible for the undersea electronics, the cable and all terminal equipment in the
landing stations, including the SDH transmission network equipment and the end-to-end
network management system.
See the map.
About Southern Cross
Southern Cross Cables Limited (SCCL) is an independent company responsible for the
design, construction, marketing and management of the Southern Cross Cable Network.
SCCL is based in Bermuda and has offices in Wellington, Auckland and Sydney. The
company is owned by: Telecom New Zealand (50%), Cable & Wireless Optus (40%) and
Worldcom (10%).
When fully equipped, Southern Cross will potentially deliver 480 gigabits per second of
fully protected capacity between Australasia and the United States - 480 times our
existing trans-Pacific capacity via the PacRim system. The network offers one-way
transmission delay of 70msec between Australasia and the United States. The Southern
Cross network is designed to achieve a network availability of 99.999%, which equates to
50 minutes of network down-time every 10 years.
The Southern Cross Cable Network consists of 28,900km of submarine cable and 500
optical repeaters (placed every 40-70km to boost signals), as well as 1,600km of
terrestrial cable and nine cable stations (two each in Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and
the US mainland, and one in Fiji).The submarine cable system was laid by seven cable
ships between July 1999 and January 2001. The maximum depth of the cable is 7,585m on
the Kermadec Trench between New Zealand and Hawaii.
About Alcatel
Alcatel is the only vendor to master all optical network elements, from optical components,
optical fibers, DWDM systems and microwave radio links to core routers and network
intelligence, and from terrestrial to submarine solutions. Alcatel is also the only company to
provide both terrestrial and marine services for the installation and maintenance of global,
seamless optical networks.
According to RHK's 2000 study, Alcatel holds the number two position in global optical
transport market with 20% market share, distancing itself from other competitors. RHK also
reported that Alcatel reaffirms its number one position in submarine networks with 41%
worldwide market share. Moreover, Alcatel claims to be the world leader in total terrestrial
and submarine DWDM systems, in digital cross-connects, which contain the enabling
technology for operators to offer high bandwidth services, in SDH networks and in
microwave radio links.
Alcatel's optics business comprises terrestrial and submarine transmission systems, fiber
optics, optical components and microwave radio links. Alcatel has launched a new class
of Alcatel stock which is intended to track the performance of Alcatel Optronics, the
Company's optical component business.
Alcatel is the world leader in delivering full turnkey submarine network solutions and
services. Alcatel leads this industry in terms of:
- having the highest sold capacity up to 8.4 Tbit/s for the long-haul systems and 3.6 Tbit/s
for the short-haul ones, using the latest DWDM technology;
- having a large manufacturing capacity at 75,000 km per year strategically located around
the Globe;
- managing 12 dedicated purposed-designed vessels by the end-2001 for a tight control
on the delivery schedule, including marine maintenance.
Current contracts include the most advanced undersea networks in the world today:
FLAG Atlantic-1 and Apollo systems in the Atlantic, Japan-US and Southern Cross
transpacific systems, the MAC and MAYA-1 systems in the Americas and the SAT-3
around Africa.
Alcatel builds next generation networks, delivering integrated end-to-end voice and data
networking solutions to established and new carriers, as well as enterprises and
consumers worldwide. With sales of EURO 31 billion in 2000 and 110,000 employees,
Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries.
Contact press@www.alcatel.com |
