Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Alcatel (ALA) and France -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: zbyslaw owczarczyk who wrote (1503)	3/21/2000 12:24:00 AM
From: Tunica Albuginea	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3891

ZO, kudos for ALA, TA Message #1503 from zbyslaw owczarczyk at Mar 20 2000 7:07PM ROCKVILLE, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 20, 2000--Alcatel today announced it won a contract to build a high-speed, intelligent, switched network at the U.S. Navy's Port Hueneme Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center (PHD NSWC). The WAN/LAN solution is based on Alcatel's OmniSwitch and was chosen to reduce network management overhead, provide a cost-effective migration path to new technologies, and support a growing number of mobile users. The center is responsible for the successful operation of surface combat and weapon systems, connecting its state-of-the-art engineering facilities together with Navy ships and to the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) network. The network supports more than 3,000 users. ``Our mission is to support the fleet with safe and effective weapon systems. Our network allows us to complete our mission. We have worked with Alcatel to strengthen our LAN and WAN connections while making our network easier to manage. The flexibility that the OmniSwitch gives us for doing adds, moves and changes of network users is a big advantage along with the any-to-any network connectivity,' said Jim Rieder, computer specialist at PHD NSWC. The center's network upgrade will also help support the fleet's advanced weapon systems remotely communicate with sailors using one of 850 desktop video conferencing units. PHD NSWC chose the Alcatel solution for the following reasons: Mobility with security -- Alcatel provided a policy-based user authentication solution that bases network access on a user's identity instead of a physical location. It allows users to log in from anywhere using a name and password and gain access to approved resources. With Alcatel's Authentication Services, the policies can be predefined with a policy template to reduce the configuration burden and simplify moves, adds, and changes. Reduction of management overhead -- By focusing on automating network discovery, providing policy templates for simple policy-based networking, and giving network managers more visibility into WAN and LAN connections, Alcatel's network management software reduces management overhead. By implementing this software, the center estimates it will reduce the time spent on network management by 1,000 man-hours per year. Cost-effective migration -- The center needed to migrate from a shared hub/router environment that used an FDDI ring at the core -- but it wanted to migrate at its own pace, taking advantage of equipment already in place. Network managers also wanted to move away from proprietary routing protocols to the Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) protocol. Alcatel provided the OmniSwitch solution that switches all of its network types -- FDDI, Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, ATM at OC-3 and OC-12, and wide area traffic -- in one chassis. The capability gives the center a smooth migration path to its new network. Proven Track Record -- The OmniSwitch has proven its ability to perform in harsh Navy ship environments and provide the necessary service and support to the Navy with its previous work. More than 140 US Navy ships now have OmniSwitch networks under the IT-21 program, a four-year Navy initiative to upgrade the computing capabilities of both the 300-ship US fleet and a number of on-shore facilities. By using the same network as the fleet, Port Hueneme saves on training, maintenance and it enhances seamless ship-to-shore connectivity desired with IT-21. ``The fact that such a high profile naval installation as Port Hueneme based its network on the OmniSwitch solution is a result of our successful strategic partnership with the Navy,' said Mike Paluzzi, director of Federal systems for Alcatel Internetworking. ``That we are able to achieve such a smooth transition to an ATM-based network is an excellent example of what our technology can do.' ``The Alcatel solution gives us a lot of flexibility. We can upgrade our bandwidth in the future and with the advanced Switched Network Services functionality, we can handle our increasing demand to support secure voice, video and data traffic over the same network,' Rieder said. About Alcatel Alcatel builds next generation networks, delivering integrated end-to-end voice and data communications solutions to established and new carriers, as well as enterprises and consumers worldwide. With 120,000 employees and sales of EURO 23 billion in 1999, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries. For more information, visit Alcatel on the Internet: alcatel.com.