China Telecom awards Alcatel with largest cross-connect project in Asia-Pacific
Project will be able to connect simultaneously more than 100 million existing telephone lines
Paris, February 19, 2001 - Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA and NYSE: ALA), world leader in intelligent optical networking, has been awarded a contract by China Telecom Group, the largest telecom operator in China, to deploy a national, intelligent cross-connect network with an advanced restoration system. The contract exceeds US $30 million.
This national digital cross-connect network will be the first of its kind in China. It will also be the largest digital cross-connect network ever built in Asia Pacific. It will greatly strengthen the reliability and flexibility of China Telecom's transmission network, thus meeting the country's demand for advanced multimedia services and key customers' need for special traffic protection.
Alcatel will implement the project in 30 major cities by mid-2001. The cross-connect systems will cover an area of more than five million square kilometers throughout the Central and Eastern provinces of China, where premium-quality and high-speed multi-service transmission demand is booming. It is estimated that 1 billion people will directly benefit from this project.
According to the contract, Alcatel will supply its innovative Optical Multi-service Gateways (4/4 and 4/1 Digital Cross-Connect), which are part of the OptinexTM family - Alcatel's breed of world-class transmission solutions. With a total network cross connect capacity above seven Terabit per second, this backbone will be able to connect simultaneously more than 100 million existing telephone lines.
"By adopting the intelligent DXC technology, China Telecom will be able to greatly upgrade the capability and quality of its high-speed backbone network," said Mr. Chang Xiaobing, Deputy General Manager of China Telecom Group." This cross-connect network will offer a reliable, flexible, unified and advanced high-capacity core platform for all kinds of services, including Virtual Private Networks, fully satisfying the need for high-quality traffic. It would also greatly reduce the costs by fully and efficiently utilizing its current transmission capacity, and would improve the integrated business operation of China Telecom Group", he added.
"Just widening the streets is not enough to reduce traffic jams, and you need to solve problems at crossroads, parking areas, traffic lights coordination, and in case of accidents. And Alcatel's cross-connect solution greatly enhances the network transport by taking care of these issues", said Jean-Marie Vansteenkiste, President of Alcatel's terrestrial networks activities. "This huge network project will benefit from Alcatel's capability and experience acquired in the world-wide markets", he added.
The enabling technology of digital cross-connect solutions will automatically route the digital flow via crossroads to its destination in the most flexible, efficient and reliable way, maximizing the use of the network capability. The advanced PRC (Protection and Restoration Combined) technology ensures immediate traffic recovery against multiple and simultaneous failures by intelligent and automatic re-routing.
About OptinexTM
The OptinexTM family provides a single, multi-service platform, supporting the complete range of services, from IP leased lines, frame relay to ATM services and VPN (Virtual Private Networks) It with guaranteed IP Quality of Service (QoS). IP and ATM switching and routing functionality is introduced into Optinex Multiservice Nodes and Gateways, thus drastically reducing the amount of investments needed to build up a transmission network and to operate it. The current terrestrial Optinex product range also includes wide-band optical amplifiers and Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing systems (DWDM) with high-channel counts and very high-performance applications, able to multiplex up to 160 channels - upgradable to 240 - with optical tributaries from 100 Mbps to 10 Gbps. Within this range, Optinex Optical network systems are capable of reaching up to 1.6 Tbps. of capacity. All the above mentioned systems are managed by a single, fully integrated Network management System enabling efficient traffic control and routing throughout all network levels, from local up to intercontinental links and from submarine to terrestrial ones.
About Alcatel
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 130,000 employees and sales of EURO 31 billion in 2000, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries.
Alcatel came to China in 1983. Its heavy investment in China has now brought forth 13 joint venture companies and 6 wholly owned companies including 5 R & D centers, covering the full scope of activities spanning the air, the land and the sea. It is also the supplier of all major China telecom operators.
Alcatel is the only vendor to master all optical network elements, from optical components, optical fibers and DWDM systems 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 all 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, and in SDH networks. Alcatel's optics business comprises terrestrial and submarine transmission systems, fiber optics and optical components. 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. |
