Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU) announced a $17.4 million contract to build an optical backbone network for the China Education and Research Net (CERNET). This new network will significantly increase CERNET's transmission capacity and enable it to offer new bandwidth-intensive data services.
CERNET is a national education and research network built by China's Ministry of Education. A committee composed of professors and experts from China's top universities administers the network, which serves more than 750 education and research institutions and approximately 4 million users throughout the country.
Under the terms of the contract, Lucent is providing CERNET with the WaveStar OLS 80G, a dense wave division multiplexing (DWDM) system with enough capacity to send 40 gigabits�the equivalent of 1,200 encyclopedia volumes�across a single hair-thin fiber each second. Lucent also is providing the WaveStar ADM 16/1, an optical multiplexer that enables carriers to use synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH) technology to set up optical network rings. The system does this by combining multiple low-speed electrical and optical inputs into individual 2.5 gigabits-per-second (Gb/s) signals.
DWDM technology provides increased network capacity by simultaneously transmitting multiple wavelengths, or colors, of light across a single fiber strand, with each color carrying a distinct stream of information. The WaveStar OLS 80G is a flexible, high-capacity, DWDM system that can be used for both long-haul and regional/interoffice transport.
Lucent also is providing CERNET with its network management systems, including the Lucent Integrated Transport Management sub-network controller (ITM-SC), and the Lucent network management system (ITM-NM). These products will help CERNET manage the increased bandwidth in its networks. Until now, bandwidth over most segments of the CERNET backbone has reached 155 megabits per second (Mb/s) with some reaching up to 2.5 Gb/s.
At a ceremony held on Jan. 17 in Beijing to commemorate the successful completion of the first phase of the project, CERNET honored Lucent with a "High Quality Service" award.
About CERNET:
Funded with resources from China's state treasury, steered by Ministry of Education, constructed and operated by Tsinghua and other universities, China Education and Research Net (CERNET), a network for public interests in China, is an academic net mainly oriented to education and research institutions nationwide. For more information, visit www.edu.cn.
About Lucent Technologies:
Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, N.J., USA, designs and delivers systems, software, silicon and services for next-generation communications networks for service providers and enterprises. For more information, visit www.lucent-optical.com.