Marconi/Reltec is a MRV customer, so is SBU, does anybody know any info. on the 'ONU' optical network unit & what that entails?
Regis
BellSouth and Marconi Communications Team Up For
World-First Fiber-to-the-Curb Drive
June 9, 1999
ATLANTA, June 8 /PRNewswire/ via NewsEdge Corporation
-- Around 200,000 homes in Atlanta and Miami will be the
first in the world to reap the benefits of a pioneering
initiative in optical fiber deployment by U.S. operator
BellSouth and Marconi Communications (formerly RELTEC
Corporation in the U.S.). Later this year, in what is
believed to be the largest commercial broadband
fiber-to-the-curb (FTTC) initiative the world has ever
seen, residential and business subscribers of BellSouth will
deploy Integrated Fiber in the Loop (IFITL) to provide
broadcast video, high-speed Internet data and the latest
voice communications applications. This follows an
agreement between the innovative, Atlanta-based operator
and Marconi Communications, which will see an aggressive
implementation of Marconi Communications' DISC*S(R)
FiberStar(TM) flexible access platform.
The announcement was made at SUPERCOMM '99, being
held this week at the Georgia World Congress Center,
Atlanta.
"IFITL is an integral and critical part of our strategy to
meet the full range of our customers' communications
needs while positioning BellSouth's network infrastructure
for the next generation of voice and broadband
applications," said Bill Smith, vice president for BellSouth
Network Strategic Planning. "IFITL promises to be a truly
future-safe multimedia platform, evolving to provide reliable
data and video applications as our network needs grow."
IFITL is a configuration of DISC*S FiberStar tailored to
BellSouth requirements. Marconi's DISC*S FiberStar is a
multi-service platform capable of delivering a variety of
narrowband, wideband and broadband services -- from
plain old telephone service (POTS) to high-speed data over
digital subscriber lines (xDSL) to broadcast video. The
DISC*S single-fiber architecture offers a cost-effective
deep reach into the local network with the lowest power
requirement of any FTTC platform available today.
"DISCHS is the most flexible, future-safe, multi-service
access platform on the market, and the only system being
commercially deployed in volume for delivering integrated
voice, video and data services to residential and business
users," noted Mike Pratt, general manager of Marconi
Communications Access Network Systems Group, Irving,
TX, U.S.A.
Integral to BellSouth's deployment plans is Marconi
Communications' optical network unit (ONU), a curbside
distribution unit which acts as an intermediary point
between DISC*S FiberStar optical channel shelves and the
customer premise. A wave division multiplexer (WDM)
combines 1310 nm and 1550 nm optical signals on the
single fiber, including Amplitude Modulated, Vestigial Side
Band (AM-VSB) analog and digital broadcast video. The
ONU extends the advantages of fiber-optic transmission to
within 500 feet of the user, economically providing virtually
unlimited bandwidth to subscribers.
The low-power design of the DISC*S ONU architecture is
the most efficient in the industry, using only one-third to
one-half the power required for competitor ONUs.
With its multitude of standard interfaces, DISC*S easily
supports today's demand for integrated voice, video and
high-speed data services from a single platform. Its
architecture also offers an easy migration path to services
incorporating asymmetrical digital subscriber line (ADSL),
100BaseT or Gigabit Ethernet and ATM25 directly to the
end user -- in effect, fiber-to-the-home (FTTH)
functionality.
BellSouth (NYSE: BLS) is a $23 billion communications
services company. It provides telecommunications, wireless
communications, cable and digital TV, directory advertising
and publishing, and Internet and data services to nearly 34
million customers in 19 countries worldwide. In the U. S.,
BellSouth provides telecommunications services in nine
Southeastern states, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia,
Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South
Carolina and Tennessee. With its headquarters in Atlanta,
BellSouth serves more than 24 million local telephone lines
and provides local exchange and intraLATA long distance
service over one of the most modern telecommunications
networks in the world.
Marconi Communications is a world leader in smart
broadband transmission and network integration --
designing and delivering communications systems to more
than 140 countries. With the recent acquisition of RELTEC
Corporation, Marconi Communications now has a leading
position within the North American access network,
providing data, video and telephony systems and services
for the "last mile" of the communications network. Marconi
Communications is wholly owned by The General Electric
Company, p.l.c. (GEC) of the United Kingdom, a global
manufacturer of intelligent electronic systems.
For further information, contact Ron Sciepko or Brian Dolby
at the Marconi Communications exhibit (booth 6147) during
SUPERCOMM '99. In North America, contact Ron Sciepko,
Marconi Communications Public Relations at 440-353-2120,
e-mail: ron.sciepko@na.marconicomms.com . In the U.K.,
contact Brian Dolby, Marconi Communications Press Office
on +44 115 906 4687, e-mail:
press.office@marconicomms.com .
|
