Azteca Comunicaciones Colombia has tapped Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) to supply point-to-point fiber-to-the-node (FTTN), optical transport, and IP routing equipment for a nationwide broadband network. Alcatel-Lucent says it will be “a major supplier” for the project, which aims to connect 753 municipalities.
The roll out comes under the umbrella “The National Fiber Optic Network from Compartel Program” which the country’s Ministry of Information Technology and Communication (MINTIC) launched to increase broadband coverage from 27.2% to 95.5% by 2014.
"The government of Colombia has set very aggressive targets for increasing the availability of broadband services throughout the country,” said Alexandra Reyes, CEO of Azteca Comunicaciones Colombia. “We turned to Alcatel-Lucent because of its experience with the deployment of large-scale, complex broadband networks. Our collaboration with Alcatel-Lucent -- one of the broadband market leaders -- will help us to ensure that this project is completed quickly and with exceptional quality."
Azteca Comunicaciones Colombia will use the equipment from Alcatel-Lucent in 216 municipalities throughout the country. The systems house will supply its 7330 Intelligent Services Access Manager (ISAM) FTTN supporting point-to-point fiber access, its 7750 Service Router (SR) and 7705 Service Aggregation Router (SAR) for IP/MPLS requirements, and its 100G-enabled 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS). Alcatel-Lucent also will provide such services as installation, project management, and technical support for two years, as well as operation and maintenance of the network.
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