Telstra Picks Ericsson for Optical Backbone Upgrade

Telstra has selected Ericsson to upgrade its national optical transport to 100 Gbps technology.  Specifically, Ericsson will provide its SPO 1400 metro optical family and the MHL3000 for long-haul applications, including support for 100Gbps services.

Ericsson's next generation optical network solution includes the latest in 100Gbps transmission, ROADM (Reconfigurable Optical Add Drop Multiplexer) and DWDM technology with Multiservice DWDM and Packet Optical Transport Platform (POTP) equipment.

In addition, Telstra and Ericsson announced the renewal of their longstanding strategic partnership. The agreement includes an expansion of Telstra's LTE network across Australia, as well as a program of advanced technology trials - of LTE-Advanced Carrier Aggregation, LTE heterogeneous networks and LTE Broadcast.

David Thodey, Chief Executive Officer of Telstra, says: "Telstra is very proud of the work that we are undertaking with Ericsson to ensure Australia remains at the forefront of mobile connectivity. We believe these initiatives are a way of efficiently maintaining our high quality network and meeting sustained, growing customer demand." - The LTE-Advanced Carrier Aggregation trial will combine the 1800MHz and 900MHz bands. Telstra will also test Ericsson's coordinated solution for small cells in heterogeneous networks ensures high-quality capacity and connectivity in even the most densely populated city areas. In the third trial for 2013, for the LTE Broadcast solution, Ericsson will deploy Evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (eMBMS) technology into Telstra's live network. As part of the trial, premium video and file-based content will be broadcast over the LTE network to test how video and other content can be more efficiently delivered through application of dynamic offload, particularly in dense consumption scenarios. Ericsson President and CEO Hans Vestberg says: "Under this agreement, Ericsson continues as Telstra's prime vendor of 3G and 4G RAN technology. The trials for Telstra will provide insights applicable not only on the Australian market but also globally. For example, the heterogeneous networks trial will be of interest to operators around the world who want to ensure capacity and connectivity in densely populated city areas. And the LTE Broadcast trial will show how Ericsson technology can deliver media content efficiently over LTE."
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