Specially enhanced versions of Marconi's (London) MSH family of optical switches have been selected by Deutsche Telekom AG to form the intelligent core of its Global Seamless Network (GSN) research and demonstration project. The GSN is used by Deutsche Telekom to investigate possible architectures for future core optical-network deployments. It is a fully operational multivendor demonstrator that involves the latest core optical transmission technology. Marconi has provided Deutsche Telekom's Innovation Management with enhanced versions of its core, optical switches on a free-trial basis to prove the cost-saving potential of the GSN, and its ability to interwork with Ethernet and IP solutions on which the operator's end-user services are based.
Indonesian telecommunications company Indosat commissioned Pirelli (Milan, Italy) and Siemens Information and Communications Networks (Munich, Germany) as a consortium to deliver a high-speed optical-fibre network. The three subnetworks in East Java, Jakarta-Bandung, and Sumatra cover a total of more than 1,376 km. They form the backbone for nationwide transport of both fixed network and mobile telephony data. The contract is worth about EUR20 million. Siemens, the consortium leader, will provide the transmission equipment as well as the relevant cable and equipment installation, with plans to install the project in just half a year. Pirelli will deliver the terrestrial cable, equipped with 24 new Pirelli SM Light fibres.
FlexLight Networks (Kfar Saba, Israel, and Atlanta, GA), a gigabit passive-optical-network (GPON) equipment provider, announced that it has received an additional USD900,000 investment on behalf of the Office of the Chief Scientist, the research and development arm of the Israeli Ministry of Industry and Trade. This tranche of investment recognises the International Telecommunication Union's decision to confirm GPON as a standard. Founded in September 2000, FlexLight is developing the Optimate suite of GPON optical access products.