Internet News South Africa

Telkom appoints Alcatel-Lucent as supplier of network equipment

Alcatel-Lucent has been appointed as the supplier of the network equipment to expand the availability of broadband services to Telkom SA subscribers throughout South Africa.

The project, which is part of Telkom's strategic network transformation initiative, includes upgrading the existing access network with new-generation VDSL2 technology serving 4.4 million subscribers, and where commercially viable will also include the introduction of gigabit passive optical network (GPON) technologies to support fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) capabilities. These new technologies will be key enablers for potential future services such as video on demand, IPTV, and high quality voice services

Fast and cost-effective connectivity

Today, new applications are dramatically increasing capacity demands on communications networks. Alcatel-Lucent's state-of-the-art portfolio of fibre-optic and copper-based access technologies will help Telkom connect their customers in the fastest and most cost-effective way. Alcatel-Lucent is providing Telkom with its industry-leading intelligent services access manager (ISAM) product family, which supports passive optical networking (PON) and digital subscriber line (DSL) technologies on the same platform.

"We are delighted to meet Telkom's needs with a turn-key solution that will enable them to provide the new kinds of services their subscribers demand. Our equipment will facilitate Telkom's drive to more effectively compete with mobile service providers by delivering a better customer experience," says Daniel Jaeger, Alcatel-Lucent vice president for Africa.

With Alcatel-Lucent's ISAM product family, Telkom can support a mix of fibre-to-the-home, fibre-to-the-node and fibre-to-the-building deployment models, giving them enormous flexibility to choose the quickest, most cost-effective way to meet subscribers' broadband needs. The ISAM family is a cornerstone of Alcatel-Lucent's High Leverage Network architecture.

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