LU 100mlnth line release (August 14, 1997)
LISLE, ILL. -- Lucent Technologies today announced it has installed the 100 millionth line of its digital switch for advanced telecommunications services. Now, 100 million phone, fax, or data lines in operation
around the world are being served by the 5ESSr-2000, a large-scale, AnyMediaTM digital switching system that connects people to the public network.
Lucent installed the 100 millionth line in Qingdao, China, at the Qingdao Posts & Telecommunications Bureau's Fuzhou Road location, which now serves more than 35,000 lines. Customers there will receive
advanced services, such as simultaneous voice and data, as well as basic telephone service.
Research and development for the switch is handled at Lucent's Lisle-Naperville campus where 10,000 Lucent employees work. About a third of those work on the switch in software development, product
management and marketing, and technical support. The switch is made at Lucent's manufacturing facilities in Oklahoma City and Qingdao, China.
The first 5ESS was installed in 1982 in Seneca, Illinois, for Ameritech (then known as Illinois Bell) to serve about 1,300 customers in the town 80 miles southwest of Chicago. Today that switch serves as a remote
switch module for a larger 5ESS nearby, demonstrating the modular ability of the switch to grow in increments, along with community needs.
"The switch has been continuously updated since it was created 15 years ago, so today it's practically a new switch," said Dan Stanzione, Lucent's president of Network Systems. "The switch easily meets new
challenges such as Internet growth, serves new customers such as wireless or long-distance, and reaches new parts of the world, such as China.
"Plus, its unique modular design enables service providers to offer the latest services without adding a lot of new infrastructure. And service providers who are new to the market can be up and running quickly and
cost-effectively," he continued. "When you see the accomplishments of the first 15 years, it's exciting to realize the next 100 million lines could be shipped in just another five years -- that's how quickly networks
around the world are growing."
The 5ESS-2000, with its AnyMedia Platform, is the only switch in the industry today that delivers wireline, wireless, voice, data, and video services on the same platform. Run by AnyMedia software developed by
Bell Labs, the switch is used by such service providers as telephone companies, wireless providers, or cable operators to offer local, long-distance, or international service, operator services, ISDN, Internet
access, data, and video services.
The 5ESS-2000, located in 52 countries worldwide, has the least amount of downtime of any switch in its class, with several times fewer outages than its nearest competitor, according to analysis of the latest Federal Communications Commission Automated Reporting Management Information Systems report for the U.S. The switch handles about a million calls during busy hours and can support up to 200,000 lines,
or individual phone numbers. |
