Alcatel gets first $460m tranche of Telstra NGN work

Stuart Corner
Friday, 01 September 2006 04:08

IT Industry - Strategy

After naming Alcatel  last November as one of the strategic suppliers for its network transformation project, Telstra has announced the 2006-2007 "work program" saying it should be worth around $460 million to Alcatel.
In 2006-07 Alcatel will establish an IP network footprint in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide by supplying and deploying IP-DSLAMS, ethernet aggregation and optical networking technologies.

Telstra plans to replace 116 of its existing PSTN switches with five mated pairs of Alcatel softswitches in these cities by the end of 2008. As part of the 2006-07 works program, Alcatel will test the first mated pair of its softswitches in the new Telstra Integration Laboratory, announced last month.

Telstra’s executive managing director of network & technology, Dan Burns, said that  Telstra had connected its first customer to an Alcatel IP-DSLAM early this year. “These upgrades are important for future-proofing our network over the next five to ten years,  to provide customers with access to offerings such as high speed internet, telecommuting, video conferencing and video delivery of services in general.”