Feb. 12, 2002--Lightscape Networks (Petah Tikva, ISRAEL), an ECI Telecom company, closed a major contract valued at US$30 to $50 million with Bezeq, Israel's incumbent telecommunications company. The contract covers the upgrade of Israel's national communications network in readiness for broadband services.

Under the terms of the agreement, Lightscape's SDM hybrid optical platform will enhance capacity within Israel's existing SDH/SONET infrastructure so that Bezeq can expand services to include video, fiber channel, and DSL.

"The XDM is central to our strategy for rolling out broadband services in Israel," said Paul Weissbach, deputy CEO & vice president engineering and planning at Bezeq. "One XDM can do the same job that would previously have required 12 different pieces of equipment. This makes for a small footprint, rapid deployment, and ease of management."