August 8, 2006 Petah Tikva, Israel -- ECI Telecom has signed a new multi-million dollar contract with the largest cable operator in Romania, RCS & RDS, for the upgrade and expansion of its optical network. The network upgrade will allow RCS & RDS to provide triple-play and other broadband services across Eastern Europe and enable access to the European Internet exchange located in Frankfurt. RCS & RDS' upgraded network will serve approximately 1.7 million subscribers.
Per the agreement, ECI is upgrading the national network between all the major cities in Romania, creating a new regional network in Moldova and connecting Hungary to Romania. The network is based on 10-Gbit/sec DWDM technology. Underscoring the efficiency of the deployment, ECI reports that it was able to deploy the main ring in less than two weeks.
ECI and RCS & RDS have been working together since 2001. ECI had previously enabled the customer to deploy an SDH network using its flagship XDM optical platform. In the current project, RCS & RDS' backbone is being upgraded to add more capacity and to support 10-Gbit/sec DWDM by adding a 10G LAN interface. This will make the network more cost-effective and easier to maintain, resulting in significant operational expenditure savings, say ECI representatives. RCS & RDS has deployed ECI platforms worth over $10 million in recent years.
"To meet the rapidly growing requirements from our subscribers, we needed a trusted partner that we knew could respond quickly and customize the right solution for us," explains Alexandru Oprea, general manager of RCS & RDS. "With ECI, we are deploying a modern high-capacity network that provides us with a flexible and cost-effective solution to generate new revenues and remain ahead of the competition."
"We place great value on our partnership with RCS & RDS and are delighted that the company has again chosen us for their network expansion," adds Ido Gur, ECI Telecom's executive vice president of global sales and marketing. "The ability to customize a triple-play network for the largest cable operator in Romania demonstrates the quality of our technology and our continued strength in tailoring cost-effective solutions for our customers."
RCS & RDS supports 1.7 million subscribers in Romania, Hungary, and Slovakia. It registers 500,000 telephony users; 300,000 Internet subscribers; and other 400,000 Digi TV clients in the region.