DECEMBER 4, 2007 -- PacketFront (search for PacketFront) has signed an agreement with Stadtwerke Schwerte, an energy and communications company, to build a fiber-based network for the city of Schwerte in Germany. With PacketFront's technology, Stadtwerke Schwerte is now able to operate a fully automated FTTH (search for FTTH) network.

"We are delighted that Stadtwerke Schwerte has chosen us as their supplier, and it is a strategically very important deal for us," contends Martin Thunman, CEO of PacketFront. "This is our first contract in Germany, and it opens up a very large market."

Stadtwerke Schwerte says it chose PacketFront because of the company's BECS control and provisioning system, and the high quality and advanced support for VoIP in its customer premises equipment, known as DRGs. PacketFront also will supply the ASR 5000 Series of Advanced Services Routers and the Service Selection Portal, SSP.

Triple-play services (IP-telephony, Internet, and IPTV) will be available from the start, and Stadwerke Schwerte say it is also considering opening up the network to external service providers.

PacketFront claims its fully automated offering facilitates networks that are extremely cost efficient to manage. The system also provides self-provisioning capabilities, which give end users the option to choose among several services for themselves without having to wait for a third party to make the changes.

"The advanced technology and PacketFront's expertise made it a simple choice," recalls Thomas Griem, project manager for FTTH and Cable TV at Stadtwerke Schwerte. "Their support throughout the test phase and their ability to deploy the network quickly and efficiently has been highly impressive. The high level of automation together with the flexibility to change the business model over time makes this solution both cost effective and future proof."

The first area to be covered by the network is the region of Westhofen, where approximately 1,600 households will be connected. Within the next five years, Stadtwerke Schwerte will connect all 50,000 residents in the city of Schwerte, which corresponds to 28,000 households. Schwerte is situated just outside of Dortmund in Germany.

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