Korea's largest service provider awards Lucent 10-Gbit/sec system contract

July 30, 2002 - Lucent Technologies today announced that it has been awarded a contract to supply KT, formerly known as Korea Telecom, in Seoul, Korea with a 10-Gbit/sec optical system that will allow the service provider to quadruple capacity of its existing networks. This marks the first major introduction of 10-Gbit/sec technology to South Korea's largest communications service provider's long-distance transmission networks.

Under the terms of the contract, Lucent will deliver 25 WaveStar TDM 10-Gbit/sec (STM-64) systems by the end of September to upgrade KT's current 2.5-Gbit/sec city-to-city networks in Gyunggi, Chungcheong, Jeonra and Gangwon province to 10-Gbit/sec capacity-based networks. The commercial service is scheduled to start this November.

The WaveStar TDM 10-Gbit/sec (STM-64) will enable KT to deliver optical services at rates of up to 10 Gbits/sec per wavelength and support current services as well as new applications through a scalable and flexible system. A 10-Gbit/sec line rate is capable of transmitting up to 2 million one-page emails or 130,000 simultaneous phone calls per second.

Developed by Lucent's Bell Labs, the system will also help KT reduce operating expenses through advanced self-healing networks, network management capabilities, and superior carrier grade reliability. It also offers flexible integration of IP/SDH with cutting edge Gigabit Ethernet capabilities, enabling new revenue-generating Ethernet service offerings while focusing on reducing capital expenditures. An integrated DWDM capability is based on Lucent's Metropolis passive DWDM technology. Lucent has provided KT with optical networking systems including the WaveStar OLS systems, WaveStar DWDM systems, and WaveStar ADM 16/1 since 1998 to build KT's backbone networks in Korea.

KT is the largest service provider in South Korea. It runs the largest and most sophisticated communications network in South Korea for local, long-distance, and international call and data service. It was privatized in June 2002. For more information on KT, visit its Web site at http://www.kt.co.kr .

Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, NJ, has provided switching, optical, data and broadband access systems to KT since the 1980s. For more information on Lucent Technologies, visit its Web site at .