Alcatel inks SBC optical contract

DALLAS—Alcatel executives said today NFOEC that SBC has signed a multimillion dollar three-year deal for the purchase of its 1680 OGX optical cross-connect. SBC intends to use the equipment to improve efficiencies within central offices.

The deployments will span at least 8 to 10 states in SBC’s territory, according to Thomas Fuerst, director of global solutions for Alcatel’s terrestrial networks division.

“This will give them a lot better efficiencies and functionality,” Fuerst said.

The cross-connect gives SBC a good way to maintain its network and monitor the health of signals, according to Fuerst. “They can know about problems before a failure occurs,” he said.

The deal is the second major optical contract in recent weeks for Alcatel, which won a fiber to the user pact with SBC for the carrier’s Mission Bay project outside San Francisco.

Today Alcatel also announced a FTTU win with the Chelan County Public Utility District in Washington. With that deployment, the municipality will offer voice video and data services to customers through independent service providers.