BT Selects Fujitsu's FDX for UK SDSL Trial and Roll-Out

Fujitsu's DSL Platform Chosen to Deliver Next Generation Symmetric Broadband Services

Fujitsu Telecommunications Europe Ltd, the leading supplier of high performance telecommunications solutions, has been awarded a contract to supply DSL equipment for BT's SDSL (Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line) trial. The new SDSL products to be offered by BT will allow service providers to supply business users symmetric broadband access at speeds of up to 2Mbit/s and to complement their existing range of ADSL services.

To support the SDSL service, BT will use Fujitsu's FDX xDSL Access Platform, a product that is already widely deployed in the UK ADSL network. The addition of a SHDSL (Single-pair High-speed Digital Subscriber Line in accordance with G.991.2) line card module transforms FDX into a system capable of supporting both ADSL and SDSL services simultaneously. Initially, the SDSL trial will use standalone FDX platforms in London. SDSL can be rolled out in the future to any exchange that already has FDX installed for ADSL services.

BT's SDSL service is "wires only", allowing service providers and end users to choose appropriate customer premises equipment - such as the Efficient Networks 5950 SDSL business-class router offered by Fujitsu. The 5950 incorporates the latest hardware-accelerated VPN technology and an ICSA firewall - making it ideally suited to small enterprise and branch office applications.

Commenting on the choice of Fujitsu's FDX for the SDSL trial, Janice Cooper, Broadband SDSL product manager for BT Wholesale said:
"The ability of FDX to support both ADSL and SHDSL technologies from the same platform, using the same management system means that BT could deploy SDSL services wherever FDX is already installed for ADSL. As the trial progresses and is shown to succeed we will be able to meet our customers' demands for SDSL services in towns and cities across the UK."

Simon Rees, Fujitsu's DSL Sales Director, added:
"We are delighted that BT has chosen Fujitsu's FDX DSL platform for this important trial. Business users of data services are becoming increasingly aware of the benefits that affordable broadband can bring and we expect the new IPStream Symmetric and DataStream Symmetric services from BT to expand this market significantly. The enhancement of the FDX deployed base to support SDSL services is another milestone in Fujitsu's continuing involvement in the creation of Broadband Britain."

BT's new IPStream Symmetric service is a one-to-many broadband offering that enables service providers to develop digital content and application packages and deliver them to their customers via an IP-based data network. The service is ideal for fast e-mail and file transfer in both directions, wide area networking (WAN) and website hosting, giving users business-class connectivity to their service provider with higher upstream data rates than those designed for ADSL. The second product - BT DataStream Symmetric - is aimed at service providers and other telecommunications operators, for re-sale to the SME and corporate business markets. The service would support wide area networking (WAN), file transfer, video conferencing, virtual private networks (VPN), voice over DSL services and other data transport applications requiring a symmetric data traffic flow.

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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