Marconi is to extend the NetCologne optical network of Cologne in Germany beyond the city limits to cover four million potential new customers and will provide 24-hour, on-site back up for the entire system.
The contract, an extension to a long-standing frame agreement, is worth up to lb6 million, and brings NetCologne`s spend with Marconi over the last five years to nearly lb24 million.
NetCologne has used Marconi`s AON (Active Optical Network) and SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) technology since 1997, the year after it became Germany`s first telco to win a city licence. It currently provides telephone services to over 60,000 premises, while its internet and cable TV services are each taken by 40,000 subscribers.
Under the latest extension to the frame contract, Marconi will install arrays of its ONU 400, ONU 200 and ONU 32 Optical Networks Units as well as network gateways and controllers. Management of the entire system, which now contains over 700 optical network elements, will remain under the control of Marconi`s NSU management system. NetCologne`s subscribers are hooked up to the network by a mixture of fibre to the office and fibre to the kerbside, depending on their size.
Commenting on the decision to go with Marconi, NetCologne chairman Hanf Werner, said: "This contract is the result of our experience with Marconi over several years. We were encouraged by its demonstrable technical strengths, its ability to blend narrowband and broadband interfaces, and the fact that it was able to offer us a complete technical package."
The network expansion will be installed through 2001. A squad of fifteen Marconi Services engineers gives NetCologne the reassurance of round-the-clock support in an arrangement which extends beyond rapid response maintenance to effectively make Marconi part of the network operation team.
Commenting on the arrangement, Marconi Germany Managing Director Jurgen Beer, said: "I believe that these supply, install, commission and maintenance contracts will become more prevalent as new-generation telcos enter the market. Our technical expertise and tight cost controls allow our customers to concentrate on their service offering, marketing, and customer services."
Marconi plc is a global communications and IT company with around 49,000 employees world-wide and sales in over 100 countries. It supplies advanced communications solutions and the key technologies and services for the internet. Marconi plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq under the symbol MONI.
Share