Sunday, September 2, 2007

Pacific Crossing Selects Fujitsu to Upgrade Cable

Pacific Crossing Limited (PCL) has awarded a contract to Fujitsu to increase the transmission capacity of its trans-Pacific submarine cable network (PC-1 Network). The PC-1 network is PCL's 21,000 km fiber optic system which links the U.S. and Japan. Fujitsu will upgrade the PC-1 network adding an additional 200 Gbps of capacity on each of the four segments of the trans-Pacific network.



Fujitsu said the turn-key deal carries an option for an additional 100 Gbps upgrade of capacity. Under terms of the agreement, PCL's PC-1 system will be lit to at least 390 Gbps of capacity on each segment of its protected network by the first quarter of 2008. This could increase to at least 490 Gbps by the second quarter of 2008 if PCL exercises its upgrade option.

http://www.fujitsu.com

http://www.pc1.com
  • In January 2007, Pacific Crossing raised $50 million in new financing to pay off its remaining debt and finance new projects. The company also announced the appointment of Robert Boss as CEO and Robert Annunziata as Chairman. Boss previously was president of Japan Telecom America. Annunziata has served in a numerous executive positions throughout the telecom industry, including as CEO of Global Crossing during most of 1999.


  • In January 2006, Pacific Crossing Ltd, Inc., a former subsidiary of Global Crossing and of the former Asia Global Crossing (now Asia Netcom), emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. Over $650 million of existing debt was converted into equity and $25 million in secured debt.



    Pacific Crossing Limited owns and operates the PC-1 cable, a 13,076 route-mile submarine fiber optic cable between the United States and Japan. It also owns and operates cable landing stations in Shima, Japan; Ajigaura, Japan; Grover Beach, California; and Mukilteo, Washington.

MTC Kuwait Selects Nokia Siemens Networks

MTC Kuwait, a leading mobile operators in the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa, selected Nokia Siemens Networks for a new Charge@Once Select platform. This will be the first deployment worldwide, scheduled to be installed by Q4 2007. Financial terms were not disclosed.



Additionally, Nokia Siemens Networks has been appointed to modernize MTC Kuwait's core network with its mobile soft switching technology for 2G and 3G, by Q2 2008. Mobile soft switches bring considerable savings in operating expenditure for voice and enable new advanced services for MTC subscribers.

http://www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com

Illiad Offers 100/50 Mbps Service in Paris for EUR 30

Beginning in mid-September, The Illiad Group's "Free" network will begin its FTTH service to eligible homes in Paris. The EUR 29.99 per month package includes:

  • Internet access at 100 Mbps downstream and 50 Mbps upstream


  • Free access to a landline


  • Unlimited calling to 49 destinations, including mainland France, except special numbers


  • Access to more than 100 audio and video channels, including HD


  • Provision of two optical Freebox units for these video services.


The company promises to carry out the installtion within one month of validating an order.

Free also announced an extension of its content deal with the Canal+ Group.

http://www.free.fr/http://www.illiad.fr
  • In December 2006, The Iliad Group's "Free" broadband service selected Cisco's Ethernet fiber-to-the-home (E-FTTH) technology for a mass rollout in France. Specifically, Free will deploy Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Switches as the E-FTTH access platform at its new optical PoPs with 10 Gigabit Ethernet uplinks to its core network to make optimum use of the increased capacity provided by the Cisco CRS-1 Carrier Routing Systems.


  • In September 2006, The Iliad Group's Free division, unveiled plans for a widescale rollout of FTTH in Paris. The company said the new network will give it true independence from the incumbent operator, France Telecom. At the time, the company said the project would take 24 months to reach 2.1 million people. Free committed to invest EUR 1 billion in the project through 2012. The company initially will target areas were its Freebox installation density is greatest. The Freebox HD's ADSL2+ terminal will be replaced by an optical box. Draka Comteq was selected to supply the FTTH network. The deployment will include two million kilometers of fiber and cable designed to resist the adverse conditions of sewers, through which many of the fiber lines will be deployed.

BT Retail Reaches Four Million Broadband Lines

BT Retail now serves four million broadband lines, making it the most popular broadband supplier in the UK. The last million customers have been added in ten months.



BT noted that more than 99.8 percent of UK homes can access broadband and more than half of these homes have now taken up the service. There are more than 15 million connections in the UK with approximately 11.5m of those running over BT's DSL network. The rest are carried via
cable networks.

http://www.btplc.com