Alcatel Attacks DSL Deployment Costs

The company reports a record shipment of 20 million DSL lines worldwide and vows to reduce the costs of DSL deployments with an upgrade of its access manager suite.

by ISP-Planet Staff [November 4, 2002]

Alcatel designs, develops, and builds innovative and competitive communications networks, enabling carriers, service providers, and enterprises to deliver any type of content, such as voice, data and multimedia, to any type of consumer, anywhere in the world.

As a worldwide leader in digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, the company introduced a suite of feature enhancements for the widely deployed Alcatel 7300 Advanced Services Access Manager (ASAM) this week. The upgrade is designed to help speed DSL deployments by reducing operator costs.

Alcatel is one of the first equipment makers to deliver standards-compliant customer premises equipment (CPE) ready for auto-configuration—a feature that enables the service provider to quickly and dynamically configure the central office (CO) and CPE. As a result, many costly manual field operations tasks are eliminated.

Alcatel is also introducing a new "low-profile" remote DSL Access Multiplexer (DSLAM) that makes it possible for operators to deploy DSL nearly everywhere. With the new DSLAM's reduced power consumption and increased component density, service providers now have the most comprehensive set of solutions, all on a single platform, to deliver nationwide broadband services with minimal capital investment and operational expense.

Telstra, Australia's incumbent carrier, plans on deploying Alcatel's upgraded technology. Ken Benson, Telstra's managing director of wireless and wireline services, said the company recognizes the importance of understanding the latest technology and applying it to meet the needs of current and future customers.

"We are announcing the deployment of the latest in proven broadband technology, based on the Alcatel 7300 ASAM, to service both metropolitan and regional areas experiencing high customer demand," Benson said.

According to Alcatel, Telstra will not be alone. Alcatel's extensive list of broadband operator customers includes some of the largest service providers around the world, such as Bell Canada, BellSouth, British Telecom, China Telecom, France Telecom, SBC, and Verizon.

The company reports that its DSL line shipments total 20 million and its global market share is at 37.3 percent. Analysts contend that Alcatel's milestones prove the success of its technology and the growing popularity of DSL. Ernie Bergstrom, In-stat/MDR senior analyst of advanced carrier strategies, said increasing profitability for global carriers is the key to future DSL deployments.

"Carriers are eager to offer intelligent broadband services, but not at any expense. The demand for lower costs, incremental revenue flow and increasing efficiency has never been higher," Bergstrom said. "Alcatel is able to reinforce its leadership in broadband access with the continued delivery of product enhancements which help operators increase DSL profitability."

Michel Rahier, Alcatel president of broadband networking activities, said the company remains committed to making future DSL rollouts a success for global carriers.

"The most critical element in ensuring DSL network success for carriers is reducing customer acquisition costs and activation time to the absolute minimum," Rahier said. "We are committed to DSL profitability and to the delivery and support of leading-edge DSL solutions that ensure our customers increase their revenue potential while decreasing their costs and simplifying the use of this technology."

Alcatel's 20 million lines milestone encompasses the full range of DSL solutions including asymmetric and symmetric digital subscriber lines (ADSL, SHDSL) to deliver standards-based broadband services to residential and professional subscribers. Both are supported by the Alcatel 7300 Advanced Services Access Manager (ASAM) and combined DSL/POTS lines on the Alcatel Litespan Next Generation Digital Loop Carrier (NGDLC).

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