SBC Communications selected Alcatel as its primary network infrastructure and services supplier for Project Lightspeed. The deal is estimated to be worth $1.7 billion to Alcatel over the next five years.
Under the agreement, Alcatel will supply access and fiber technologies, IP routing and Ethernet switching solutions, and network systems integration services. Specifically, Alcatel will provide SBC with its remote 7330 IP DSLAM solution, which is capable of supporting wire speed triple play services and multiple variations of DSL for SBC’s Fiber to the Neighborhood architecture. In addition, Alcatel provides its 7340 Fiber to the Premise (FTTP) solutions. SBC has selected Alcatel’s 7750 Service Router and 7450 Ethernet Services Switch which will enable SBC to offer differentiated IP-based services, such as video.
Additionally, Alcatel will work with SBC to ensure seamless video systems integration. http://www.alcatel.com
- Earlier this month, the FCC voted to relieve incumbent local telephone companies of most obligations to lease advanced fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network facilities to competitors at a regulated, cost-based price. Specifically, incumbents are relieved from unbundling requirements for fiber-to-the-curb (FTTC) loops, where fiber is extended within 500 feet of a customer’s premises. The new rules free companies to choose between FTTH or FTTC networks based on marketplace characteristics, rather than disparate regulatory treatment.
- Following the FCC ruling, SBC announced “Project Lightspeed” — its plan to build a new fiber-optics network into neighborhoods. SBC now aims to provide 18 million households with “super high-speed data, video and voice services” by year-end 2007 — rather than five years as previously announced. Under Project Lightspeed, SBC will provide integrated IP-based television, ultra-high-speed broadband, IP voice and wireless bundles of products and services. Through Project Lightspeed, the company will deploy 38,800 miles of fiber – double the amount used to build out the company’s DSL network – at a cost of $4 billion to $6 billion.