[Lucent Wins $1 Bln Contract From CTR Group for Fiber Network]
(for more on Project Oxygen see oxygen.org -- mark)
Murray Hill, New Jersey, May 20 (Bloomberg) -- Lucent Technologies Inc., a top phone-equipment maker, won a $1 billion contract from CTR Group Ltd. to provide networking products and expertise for a new $8 billion global fiber-optic network.
During the four-year agreement, Lucent will help engineer, install and maintain the network, called Project Oxygen. CTR Group, a closely held company in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, said Project Oxygen will be the super-Internet of the future.
CTR Group plans to build the undersea and land-based communications system to connect every continent except Antarctica, Lucent said. Global demand for new Internet services will exceed $1 trillion a year in 18 months, Murray Hill, New Jersey-based Lucent estimated.
''Lucent will make it possible for CTR Group to deliver bandwidth (telecommunications) capacity that's up to 100 times cheaper than other solutions and we'll help manage the traffic,'' said Paula Horii, a Lucent spokeswoman. She said that Lucent will begin delivering equipment early next year.
CTR Group couldn't be reached to comment.
In its first phase, Project Oxygen's 98,750 miles (158,000 kilometers) of fiber-optic cable is projected to connect 74 countries. On its land and short undersea segments, the network is expected to transport the equivalent of almost 25 million simultaneous phone calls, Lucent said. |
