China’s largest fixed network operator, China Telecom, has awarded a multi-million Euro contract, for nationwide IP metro area network expansion, to French communications giant Alcatel-Lucent.

Under this agreement, Alcatel-Lucent is to provide its IP (Internet Protocol) routing solution to help China Telecom deliver premium IP services to its residential and business customers. The project supports China Telecom’s initiative to transform itself into a full service operator. The contracts, valued at several million Euros, were secured through Alcatel-Lucent’s flagship company in China, Alcatel Shanghai Bell.

President of Alcatel Shanghai Bell Olivia Qiu said that Alcatel-Lucent is to deploy its industry-leading 7750 Service Router (SR) and 7450 Ethernet Service Switch (ESS) into the densely populated Chinese provincial markets of Jiangsu,Guangdong, Shanghai, Sichuan, Hubei, Guizhou, Ningxia and Gansu.

Alcatel-Lucent’s IP routing solution would ensure reliable, non-stop service delivery with the quality of service (QoS) necessary to offer differentiated services to customers, explained Qiu.

Enabling multiple services

Once the solution is in place, China Telecom would be able to provide multiple IP-based services such as 3G wireless broadband, IPTV and virtual private network (VPN) services using a single network infrastructure, she continued.

“Service providers are looking for solutions that can support the effective delivery of high-quality next-generation services. This latest win with China Telecom is another example of a tier-one operator who has chosen the Alcatel-Lucent service routing portfolio as the foundation for its network transformation project,” said Qiu.

Four major Chinese operators are using Alcatel-Lucent’s IP suite of solutions to optimise their networks delivering high-performance, carrier-grade data, voice and video services to their customers.

Alcatel-Lucent’s IP/MPLS solutions now serve the networks in 33 out of China’s 34 provincial markets. With this project, China Telecom joins more than 200 service providers in over 90 countries who have selected the Alcatel-Lucent IP portfolio globally. According to research firm Ovum-RHK, Alcatel-Lucent was number two in the IP/MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching) Edge market segment in Q4 2007, with 18 per cent market share, and is the fastest-growing edge router vendor in the Asia-Pacific region.

Source:computerworld