90% Infrastructure Savings Potential for 34/45Mbps Services

Fujitsu Telecommunications Europe Ltd, the leading supplier of high performance telecommunications solutions, has announced an important technology development, designed to open up high bandwidth (34/45Mbps) service delivery combined with greatly reduced infrastructure costs. Fujitsu has developed a new single solution NTE (Network Terminating Equipment) for its market leading FBX-Access multi-service access platform. This uses the latest technology to provide a dynamic new perspective on resilient fibre access, enabling operators to save up to 90% of infrastructure costs associated with delivering 34/45Mbps services.

Occupying just a few centimetres in a communications rack, Fujitsu's new FBX-Access NTE enables the cost-effective sharing of infrastructure amongst multiple 34, 45 and 2Mbps services. This removes the need for costly add-drop multiplexer shelves, with multiple units currently required to deliver a single 34Mbps service. Andy Stevenson, General Manager of Fujitsu Telecommunications Europe Ltd, believes that this technology development will help revolutionise high bandwidth service delivery in the future:
"With over 10,000 NTEs installed around the world, Fujitsu's FBX multi-service access platform is re-writing the rules of resilient fibre access. We are now seeing clear growth in bandwidth, and Fujitsu has been focusing on how to maximise technological development to enable faster, more cost-effective deployment to be achieved. By removing the high overheads associated with 34 and 45Mbps service delivery, we believe that we are opening up the high bandwidth market for the benefit of everyone. Operators will significantly reduce their infrastructure costs with our new flexible NTE solution, whilst users will be able to access services faster and more economically. We are focused on making Broadband Britain happen faster and more efficiently, through a series of incremental technology developments that accelerate its realisation."

Fujitsu's new FBX-Access NTE offers a number of key benefits to network operators, including:

• Service delivery over a single fibre interface to save access infrastructure costs.
• Capacity over the same single fibre interface can be expanded by up to three times the original, with expansion NTE options including Ethernet, ATM, 4 x 2Mbps, and 16 x 2Mbps.
• Space saving wall-mounted design for applications where space is a major consideration.
• Companies using US equipment are also supported via the 45Mbps interface from the same equipment.

Designed for direct connection to large routers or data switches, Fujitsu's 34/45Mbps NTE builds on the existing nx2Mbps NTE family, providing the same resilient management across the network to the customer premises. In turn, this ensures that Service Level Agreements for high quality services can be underwritten in the same way as an operators 2Mbps services, using management features such as performance monitoring.

About FBX-Access

Fujitsu's FBX-Access is the preferred multi-service access platform for BT in the UK, and is also well-established in Europe and Australia. It is a multi-service broadband data platform that is designed to unlock the full potential of proven communications technologies (IP, ATM, SDH) - cost-effectively deploying fully managed connections all the way to the customer's communications room or desktop. It combines exceptional manageability and resilience, together with the ability to manage latest-generation IP technology alongside legacy services. The FBX-Access range of equipment is designed to address the full spectrum of network operators' access requirements, together with a range of core transmission features. Its design principles reflect the need to be able to connect customers quickly, followed by the ability to expand end-user connectivity when and where required. FBX-Access concentrates all the required access network elements into a single platform - fusing innovation and flexibility into a standard-setting solution.

About Fujitsu Telecommunications Europe

Fujitsu Telecommunications Europe Limited is the largest supplier of Broadband Access equipment in the United Kingdom and is Fujitsu's worldwide design location for access network solutions - including a centre of excellence for the development of Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technology.

Headquartered in Birmingham, UK, Fujitsu Telecommunications Europe is focused on providing strategic end-to-end solutions, supported by complete turnkey services. Fujitsu is playing a fundamental role in the creation of "Broadband Britain" - from world-leading products and technology, through project planning, community liaison, cable laying and civil engineering, to installation, implementation and ongoing maintenance. For more information, please visit: www.ftel.co.uk

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