August 31, 2004 Murray Hill, NJ--Lucent Technologies today announced a one-year firm fixed price $4.6 million contract with the United States Department of the Army to provide optical networking systems and professional services to upgrade military communications systems at Fort Drum. The new agreement is part of the Army's Installation Information Infrastructure Modernization Program (I3MP) aimed at upgrading and modernizing the voice and data infrastructure at Army bases worldwide.
I3MP is being implemented Army-wide by Project Manager, Defense Communications and Army Switched Systems (PM DCASS), and the Program Executive Office, Enterprise Information Systems (PEO EIS).
The Lucent optical network solution will provide Fort Drum with increased bandwidth, as well as upgrades that will enhance the network's flexibility, reliability and security. The solution also enables data to be moved more quickly in a cost-effective manner and provide seamless transition of systems, databases and hardware. In addition, Lucent Worldwide Services will supply a wide range of professional services including engineering, network integration, testing, and program management.
"Lucent has a long successful track record serving United States Department of Defense agencies. In fact, we designed, engineered, deployed, installed, tested and supported Fort Drum's current network," said Rick Miller, senior vice president for Government Solutions at Lucent Technologies.
Lucent will provide the Army with the Metropolis DMX Access Multiplexer and the new Metropolis Wavelength Services Manager (WSM). The cost-effective solution will move the existing optical network from a point-to-point based infrastructure to a more secure and reliable multi-point structure, be it ring, mesh, hub or other configuration. As the government needs to expand its communications requirements, the solution is also easily upgradeable, saving costs.
Lucent and its predecessor has had a team dedicated to working with the Army as part of the I3MP project for more than 11 years. In 2003, Lucent announced contracts worth $50 million to provide network integration and professional services for Army installations in North America and Asia.
With thousands of units already deployed, the Metropolis DMX portfolio is being used by more than 100 customers worldwide to address the challenge they face in their metropolitan networks. The Metropolis DMX Access Multiplexer provides next-generation SONET functionality and serves as an integrated Ethernet over SONET metro platform.
The Metropolis WSM is a new metro DWDM product from Lucent that will help customers meet their wavelength needs in the metro access, interoffice and regional application spaces. This marks the first time this product has been deployed with a U.S. government customer. It will help the government deliver wavelength services and increase the capacity of its infrastructure. The modular and flexible architecture of the product reduces costs and complexity through a common optical platform using DWDM and CWDM technologies.