P&TLuxembourg selects Alcatel's ROADM for Trans-European network

Nov. 27, 2006

NOVEMBER 27, 2006 -- The Trans-European Network will span more than 3,000 km linking Luxembourg, Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, and London, as well as Paris and Strasbourg. The first links will be operational before the end of 2006.

NOVEMBER 27, 2006 -- Alcatel (search for Alcatel) has signed a turnkey contract with P&TLuxembourg, the Grand Duchy's leading provider of postal and telecommunications services, to deploy a Trans-European Network using Alcatel's reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplex (ROADM)-powered system.

The project will enhance the high-speed optical connectivity and flexibility of P&TLuxembourg network to transport large volumes of bandwidth-hungry broadband services between major European cities.

The Trans-European Network will span more than 3,000 km linking Luxembourg, Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, and London, as well as Paris and Strasbourg. Its deployment will provide P&TLuxembourg with a platform to support existing broadband services, including live TV streams, high-speed Internet access, e-shop and email, and further optimize the delivery of Ethernet-based services.

With the implementation of the Trans-European Network, P&TLuxembourg says it will be present at every important Internet exchange node in Europe. The first links will be operational before the end of 2006. The entire Trans-European Network will progressively be operational at the beginning of 2007.

This enlarged European network will allow P&TLuxembourg and the Grand-Duchy to compete at arms length with other European telecommunication centers and offer attractive prices for bandwidth and Internet connectivity from and to Luxembourg, says the carrier. The network has been specifically designed to offer the maximum security and the highest quality of service by making sure that each connection has an independent redundant path.

The network is based on Alcatel's multi-reach 1626 Light Manager (LM). Operating at up to 40 Gbits/sec per wavelength, the Alcatel 1626 LM uses ROADM (search for ROADM) technology to enable flexible capacity planning for faster bandwidth provisioning. P&TLuxembourg will be able to remotely add and drop wavelengths according to specific traffic profiles without impacting the network performance, say Alcatel representatives. This drastically simplifies network operations as traffic expansions can be performed from the network operation center (NOC) without having to bring experts on-site to manually configure or adjust the configurations. As a result, P&TLuxembourg also will benefit from reduced total cost of network ownership.

The Alcatel 1350 management suite, which enables the management of packets, circuits, and wavelength connectivity services, will manage the new network. Alcatel also will provide installation, commissioning, and front-line maintenance services.

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