March 9, 2005 Beijing, China -- Yangtze Communications Bureau has selected Lucent's optical platform to improve the communications system of the bureau's Yangtze Shipboard and Offshore Communications Network. According to a press release, this marks the first deployment of the company's networking products in China's water conservancy and transportation market. The project will be jointly implemented with Wuhan Yangtze Optical Communications, one of the company's authorized business partners.

Yangtze Communications Bureau is the administrative authority for communications networks that support the daily operation of harbors and shipping companies along the Yangtze River, China's most important inland waterway. According to the release, the bureau needed a converged network to meet increasing demand for multiple high-speed data services. It also required a higher level of security and reliability to meet the critical communications requirements of water transportation.

In the approximately 650-km network spanning from Yichang to Hankou, the company will provide its Metropolis ADM Universal MultiService Mux and Navis Optical Management System (OMS) to help the bureau build a multi-service transmission network that delivers voice, data, and video traffic. The company's platform will also help to optimize communication systems used for data acquisition and video monitoring and conferencing, as well as the bureau's daily control and command systems.

The Metropolis ADM MultiService Mux is an integrated Ethernet over SDH metro access multiplexer, which according to the company allows service providers to seamlessly migrate from existing infrastructure to data-aware packet networks. The Navis OMS is part of the company's software portfolio of open, standards-based network, service, and IT management systems designed for multi-vendor and converged networks.

"The contract marks another breakthrough for Lucent China in the enterprise market," concludes Gaylord Huang, executive VP, business partner and software sales, Lucent Technologies China, and president, Lucent Technologies Qingdao.