By Matthew Peach
Paris Transport Authority (RATP), has appointed Marconi to build a new Euro14m (USD12.2m) multi-service broadband network for video surveillance, voice communications and data services for the Paris Metro, and the city's train, bus and tram systems.
As well as upgrading RATP's video surveillance system, the network will also provide new services for passengers, such as Internet access and an internal video channel. Interfacing with the existing legacy networks, Marconi's ATM solution offers a complementary packet-based, multi-service network.
Deployment of the backbone network for RATP is due to begin in the summer of 2002. "The RATP's need for a communications network that links a number of Local Area Networks and supports different applications is similar to the requirements of a service provider. Marconi's experience in delivering carrier-grade, multi-service solutions with the flexibility and scalability to expand in a cost-effective manner, is a good fit for RATP," said Zeus Kerravala, VP of Enterprise Infrastructure at Yankee Group. "It is also an example of how communications networks need to evoke the same business efficiency and certainty that users expect of their utilities - always on, but transparent to the end users like electrical service."