BellSouth selected Tellabs as the exclusive supplier for the Fiber to the Curb (FTTC) portion of its next-generation network through the end of 2006. Specifically, Tellabs will develop an upgrade for BellSouth's existing FTTC platforms designed to achieve speeds greater than 50 Mbps for BellSouth's customers served by this architecture. BellSouth currently has approximately 1.1 million customers served by FTTC systems and anticipates adding 150,000 - 200,000 new homes on those systems in both 2005 and 2006.Financial terms were not disclosed.
"BellSouth will use VDSL2 to upgrade existing FTTC systems and achieve broadband speeds greater than 50 Mbps on systems installed over the last decade," said Bill Smith, chief technology officer of BellSouth.
BellSouth also selected JDS Uniphase's WaveReady platform for passive optical transport in the loop portion of its next-generation broadband network. The WaveReady 3000 WDM optical multiplexing subsystems multiply the capacity of existing single mode fiber by combining up to eight ITU-T G.694.2 compatible channels into a single optical fiber. Shipment of the subsystems are expected to begin within the next year. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"The JDS Uniphase passive optical technologies will be a key component in allowing us to economically get Gigabit Ethernet from the Edge Aggregation Router to the IP-DSLAM," said Smith. "In cases where we do not have a dedicated fiber available because the fiber is already in use, the CWDM approach will allow multiple wavelengths of light to share the fiber."
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- In February 2005, BellSouth named Alcatel as its preferred supplier of IP DSLAMs over the next three years. The agreement extends Alcatel's existing strategic supplier relationship with BellSouth for DSL equipment. Specifically, Alcatel will provide IP DSLAMs from its Intelligent Services Access Manager (ISAM) family for enabling Triple Play services.
- Also in February 2005, BellSouth selected Redback Networks' SmartEdge Service Gateway platform for its next-generation integrated IP network. The SmartEdge systems will enable the delivery of "Triple Play" services, including potential future IP video services that BellSouth is currently testing, in addition to serving as the new architecture for broadband services and subscriber management. Deployment of the systems could begin as early as the second half of 2005.Previous generation SMS(TM) systems from Redback Networks have powered BellSouth's successful deployments of DSL to its customer base.
- In January 2005, BellSouth announced a technical trial of Microsoft TV Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) Edition software platform over its DSL network.
- In November 2004, BellSouth awarded a new broadband supplier contract to Westell Technologies for its remotely-manageable DSL modem.
