Fujitsu Telecommunications Europe Ltd, the leading supplier of high performance telecommunications solutions, has won a 1999 BT Investing in Excellence Award for its Access Broadband Platform being deployed for BT's Project ASCOT. Two other Fujitsu solutions and projects were also shortlisted for the Awards, which were presented at a high profile ceremony on Thursday 18th November 1999 at the Gibson Hall, London.

BT's award initiative is designed to highlight the contribution made by suppliers - in terms of delivering innovative solutions, quality performance, value for money and performing to time. With an annual investment programme of some £5 billion, BT cites the awards as "serving to highlight the importance of teamwork between purchasers and suppliers, and our commitment to a sharing and learning process which will help to encourage and stimulate innovation."

Award Winner - Fujitsu's Access Broadband Platform for Project ASCOT

Comprising a collaborative venture between BT, Fujitsu and Alcatel, Project ASCOT focuses on the delivery of new high-speed broadband video and Internet services over the existing BT copper access network. The initial roll-out programme involves the provision of ADSL capability to 400 exchanges and around six million businesses and households by Spring 2000. Fujitsu's innovative access technology and Network Management systems have already proved themselves in BT's successful ADSL trials, conducted over two thousand lines during a 12-month period. Fujitsu and Alcatel were jointly shortlisted for the Award, on the basis of establishing a unique partnership approach with BT.

Fujitsu's Access Broadband Platform developed for the project encompasses the provision of ADSL technology, including exchange-based and customer premises equipment, together with the company's Access Network Management System - FENS AN. Meeting the specification of the project's Network Solution Design, Fujitsu's contribution enables access-on-demand to the full range of broadband communications services - with its innovative ADSL equipment capable of operation at a number of upstream and downstream rates, allowing optimisation for the variety of applications and market requirements.

TAT14 Scheme and associated external network processes

This involved a major Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) ducting project, preparing an 80km route in Cornwall in record-breaking time. The project, valued in excess of £4 million, involved the ducting required to service the landing point of a new transatlantic cable network, with other landing points in the US, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark. Operated by a consortium of international carriers, the 15,000 km TAT-14 Cable Network is due to go live for commercial services towards the end of 2000. The nomination was made on the basis of the TAT14 Scheme's major achievement across all aspects of cost and resource savings, customer satisfaction, image development with councils and the general public, as well as improved quality and delivery performance.

OBASS Operational Building Access and Security Systems

This nomination was for Fujitsu's state of the art OBASS solution that provides for the remote management and control of secure entry/exit at BT's operational buildings. A world-first, the unique system uses a single electronic access/ID card to give controlled access to authorised users, as well as enabling the remote monitoring of building intruder detection devices. The first phase of the system roll-out involves some 1000 sites, with the development of OBASS achieved on time and to budget. Fujitsu was responsible for all aspects of design and development, producing a system to fulfil BT's security and access needs into the next millennium.

Currently employing over 1,100 staff around Europe, Fujitsu Telecommunications Europe is a strategic division of Fujitsu Telecommunications of Japan - currently one of the world's largest communications equipment suppliers. Fujitsu's customer base includes wide-ranging contracts across the breadth of modern telecommunications networks. Focused on providing strategic end-to-end solutions, Fujitsu offers a complete turnkey service - from project planning, community liaison, cable laying and civil engineering, to the complete installation, implementation and ongoing maintenance.

Headquartered in Birmingham, UK, Fujitsu Telecommunications Europe has extensive research and development facilities and also operates as part of Fujitsu's global manufacturing resource. The company has a long-established track record for product and service innovation, with extensive expertise in the field of leading edge optical transmission and telecommunications switching technology. This ranges from the development of the most advanced Photonic Network Solutions; to Passive Optical Networks; Fibre Access Systems; Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) networks; Advanced Switching Systems; Radio Access Systems and IP Applications; in addition to its TMN-compliant Network Management Systems.

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