SBC takes fiber home in Mission Bay

Current fiber deployments may be numbered, but today SBC will detail their deployment of fiber-to-the-user (FTTU) equipment at the Mission Bay project in San Francisco. SBC is using Alcatel’s 7340 PON equipment for the buildout.

The equipment can deliver voice, data and video services such as HDTV over an optical network. The Mission Bay project marks SBC’s first announced deployment of the FTTU equipment. The project is a new build serving both residential and business customers.

“They are looking at future capabilities,” said Mark Klimeck, senior director of marketing for Alcatel, noting that the provider was interested in the HDTV capabilities. “This is a new product in a new market segment, so we are very excited with someone like SBC in an initial deployment,” Klimeck said.

The two companies are also working together to develop a network architecture supportive of existing DSL deployments that also paves the way for more FTTU equipment to be deployed. By doing so, SBC plans to greatly extend the breadth of its customer services, according to Klimeck.

And of added importance to Alcatel, it marks a contract extension with the provider. SBC extended contracts for the Alcatel 7300 ASAM for central-office based DSL delivery, digital loop carrier gateways, the 7670 routing switch platform and the 7440 multiservice platform.