June 7, 2002--Gas Authority of India Ltd. (GAIL), a major gas company in India and a licensed bandwidth provider there, has deployed Phase I of its nationwide optical backbone network using DWDM and SDH technology from Nortel Networks (www.nortel.com).
GAIL operates its own state-of-the-art telecommunication network, used primarily for real-time pipeline operations and maintenance. GAIL made its foray into telecom as a Category II Infrastructure provider licensee to lease bandwidth for providing the backbone for basic operators and other telecom service providers. GAIL is in the process of undertaking a phased expansion of its optical fiber network to cover more than 150 hubs across the country.
Phase I of GAIL's high-speed, high-capacity optical network spans more than 2,000 km and carries voice and data traffic across seven states - Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh.
With a network capacity of 320 Gbits/sec, this new backbone gives GAIL the bandwidth it needs for its carrier customers, and positions GAIL to drive low cost per connected bit. Phase I interconnects the top 20 traffic routes in the country.
"GAIL's optical backbone network is a historical first - they are the first alternate carrier to deploy a DWDM solution in India," said Joseph Samuel, managing director, Nortel Networks India.
GAIL will use Nortel Networks' OPTera Long Haul 1600 Optical Line System, OPTera Metro 4100/4200 Multiservice Platforms, and NetworksPreside network management.