NOVEMBER ARCHIVE: GT's Telecom Technology News Digest

Korea Telecom has deployed software upgrades for its mediation solution from ACE*COMM so that the system can capture and feed call detail records in real-time to the carrier’s operations and business support systems. The processed data can be used for billing, fraud detection, and other operations support system functions. The system, according to Korea Telecom, can collect up to 360 million call detail records per day from different network elements. The ACE*COMM upgrades are additions to Korea Telecom’s centralized automated message accounting project that was previously developed and deployed by a consortium of companies including Samsung, Iljin, LGIC, and ACE* COMM in recent years.

Korea Telecom, to meet the increasing demand of a growing Internet market in Korea, is deploying a new Internet access platform to aggregate and manage its digital subscriber line (DSL) subscribers in addition to offering customized value-added IP-based services. The platform will be based on Nortel Networks Shasta 5000 broadband service node as part of a $105 million deal between Korea Telecom and KMW Telecom, a Nortel Networks distributor. The carrier already is using Nortel Networks Universal Edge intelligent multiservice access system for DSL access concentration and fast transmission capabilities. Nortel Networks says the solution will have the capacity to service more than 3.2 million subscribers.

The Zhejiang Branch of China Mobile Communications Corp. plans to expand the capacity of its GSM network by 370,000 subscribers as part of a $29 million contract with Motorola Inc.'s Global Telecom Solutions Sector. Motorola will integrate its Horizonmacro GSM infrastructure solution in four major cities, increasing network capacity to a total of 2.8 million subscribers. Motorola also will supply Zhejiang Mobile with wireless applications.

With its GlobeSystem network in mind, Teleglobe signed a $400 million contract with Nortel Networks to deploy optical Internet services throughout its global Internet protocol (IP) network. Teleglobe will be able to expand the bandwidth capacity and operating efficiency of its fiber-optic terrestrial and submarine cables, allowing it to deliver enhanced IP and asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) services.

Diveo Broadband Networks Inc. has opened a second Internet data center in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to be a part of the company’s pan-regional Internet data center network. The new center is designed to handle managed Web hosting and colocation services. The facility includes a combination of open racks, cabinets, and cages in addition to facilities monitoring, security and staffing, redundant power, climate control, and broadband IP connectivity.

Lucent Technologies will spend a combine $10 million for a global research program to focus on the business impact related to convergence of mobility and the Internet. Lucent plans to give the Boston University School of Management $5 million while the London Business School and INSEAD business school in France will each receive $2.5 million grants as part of a “Mobility Innovation Initiative” designed to be a platform for research, study and development of 3G opportunities.

Australia’s Cable & Wireless Optus will add number portability technology to its national GSM network as part of a multimillion-dollar deal with Tekelec. Tekelec will adapt its INAP-based number portability solution to meet Australian telecommunications requirements. The solution supports up to 48 million ported numbers and can scale from 850 to more than 40,000 transactions per second.

MobiNil, Egypt’s largest GSM operator with more than a million subscribers, is upgrading its network to be able to dynamically rebalance its database loads and better utilize the capacity of its home location registers (HLRs) as part of a multimillion-dollar deal with Tekelec. MobiNil, a subsidiary of France Telecom, plans to use Tekelec’s Eagle signal transfer points (STPs) and G-Flex, a flexible numbering solution for HLRs.

Vodafone Ltd. plans to build a next-generation wireless network backbone using intelligent optical switching platforms as part of a multi-year $40 million agreement with Sycamore Networks. Sycamore will supply Vodafone with its SN 16000 intelligent optical core switch, SN 3000 optical access switch, SN 8000 intelligent optical transport platform, and optical network management system for the operator’s network in the United Kingdom. Vodafone said optical switching will reduce the cost of offering services while increasing an ability to rapidly deploy additional bandwidth.

Libertel N.V., a mobile operator in the Netherlands, plans to develop and deploy location-based services for its 3 million mobile customers after completing a deal with SignalSoft Corp. The operator plans to integrate SignalSoft products into its network including a location gateway and a location-based information application. As a result, location-based information will be added to a variety of services currently offered to subscribers using wireless application protocol (WAP)-enabled phones.

Crown Castle UK Ltd. and BT will work together to create a network to help meet demand for 3G mobile services. As part of the agreement, Crown Castle initially will lease 4,000 radio rooftop and tower locations at BT exchange sites to be linked into the BT Wholesale fiber network. Mobile operators then will be able to connect with BT’s network services, and Crown Castle will offer point-to-point radio transmission solutions. The new sites will be integrated with existing Crown Castle sites in order to offer 3G providers immediate coverage of large population areas.

Global Crossing Ltd. now is offering fiber-optic capacity and services from Buenos Aires, Argentina, to North America, Europe, and Asia after receiving a license to operate in Argentina by the Argentine National Telecommunications Commission and the Secretary of Communications in Argentina. The carrier will have 2,200 km (kilometers) of terrestrial fiber optic cable in Argentina, linking Buenos Aires with other cities worldwide. The Global Crossing network is expected to enable new services and applications including telemedicine, distance learning, and streaming audio and video.

KDDI expects to enhance the capabilities of its nationwide backbone network connecting Hokkaido to Okinawa by adding high-capacity optical network transmission technology from Lucent Technologies. As part of the deal, Lucent will supply its WaveStar ADM 16/1 optical multiplexer and the WaveStar R 16 regenerator unit for KDDI’s network. The system is designed to enable carriers to use synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH) to set up optical network rings.

The total of TDMA-EDGE wireless subscribers worldwide reached 53.5 million at the end of the third quarter, a 78 percent increase in the last year, according to the Universal Wireless Communications Consortium. The technology is most widely used in Latin America and the Caribbean region, with 24.1 million subscribers.

SmarTone, a communications service provider in Hong Kong, successfully tested the use of IPv6 in its mobile network in Hong Kong with the help of Ericsson and BT Wireless. The companies said they also successfully tested roaming between the fixed and wireless networks in addition to interworking between IPv4 and IPv6. IPv6 is expected to provide an exponential increase in available IP addresses in order to accommodate the expected explosion of Internet-ready devices. The trial incorporated Ericsson’s network-enabling IPv6 systems combined with BT Wireless research and development.

New German operator Callino plans to upgrade its backbone network by using Ericsson’s ENGINE, a multi-service network solution, to expand its broadband access and high-speed Internet services. The equipment is expected to give Callino an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM)-based network with interfaces for digital subscriber line (DSL) and wireless local loop (WLL) access technologies. In the first phase, Callino will deploy 10 AXD 301 multi-service switches in the core network hubs followed by five installations planned for a second phase.

Entel Movil, a partially owned subsidiary of Telecom Italia, plans to launch a general packet radio service (GPRS) mobile network in Bolivia after completing a $36 million, three-year deal with Ericsson for a GSM/GPRS 1900 MHz (megahertz) system. The agreement is part of Entel Movil’s plans to expand its infrastructure with the addition of standard GSM services in La Paz, Santa Cruz, and Cochabamba by the end of December followed by the GPRS launch in the second quarter of 2001. With GPRS, Entel Movil will be able to offer customers wireless Internet and IP-based services at speeds up to 115 Kb/s (kilobits per second). The second phase of the project will expand services to other Bolivian cities.