Nortel's 40G Optical Solution Prepares Alaska Communication Systems
for Rise in Internet Traffic
Deployment Will Quadruple Network Capacity
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - September 04, 2008) - Alaska
Communications Systems(2) ("ACS") (NASDAQ: ALSK), Alaska's leading
integrated telecommunications company, has chosen Nortel(1) (TSX:
NT)(NYSE: NT) to provide a 40G optical network for the terrestrial
portion of an undersea fiber-optic cable from Alaska to Oregon. This
network will position ACS to deliver end-to-end communications
solutions for enterprise and mass market customers who require
reliable, high-performance connectivity between Alaska and the lower
48 states.
"At ACS, we are focused on serving the fast growing wireline/wireless
data and enterprise markets and see significant annual bandwidth
growth rates. Nortel's 40G solution, which allows us to quadruple our
unit capacity while making no compromises on network performance,
will be key to helping us grow our business," said Anand Vadapalli,
ACS senior vice president - Network & IT. "With Nortel, we are
furthering our commitment to provide reliable and high bandwidth
enterprise services, consistent with our plans to have the
Alaska-Oregon network up and running by the end of 2008 and available
for commercial service very early in 2009."
"Like consumers all over the world, ACS customers want to run
bandwidth-intensive applications like Internet video, social
networking sites, and advanced business services," said Philippe
Morin, president of Nortel's Metro Ethernet Networks "Nortel's
40G/100G solution allows ACS to cost-effectively deliver the capacity
to meet these needs in a unique geographic environment, over various
qualities of fiber and across long distances."
Nortel has over 40-years of innovation experience with optical
networks. Building on this experience, Nortel has developed the
industry's first optical technology that can deliver both 40G and
100G network capacity through simple 'plug and play' technology
components added to existing 10G networks. Nortel's 40G/100G Adaptive
Optical Engine dynamically corrects changes in optical signals
wherever they develop over thousands of miles to ensure a clean
transmission is maintained over any type of fiber used today. This
type of technology is valuable for carriers such as ACS because there
is no need to rip and replace existing fiber or deploy different
platforms depending on distance requirements.
"The ACS network involves numerous types of fibers that allow us to
offer services across a variety of fiber distances and market
densities, including extended long-haul distances. Nortel's solution
is compatible with our array of fiber types and distances, making it
simple to add more bandwidth while continuing to offer reliable
service to our customers. This is the first deployment of 40G
technology in Alaska, and builds on ACS' track record of being the
first to offer best in class enterprise solutions," said Vadapalli.
"Nortel is very excited to be working with ACS because it allows us
to demonstrate how simple it can be to keep up with network demand
using our 40G/100G solution," said Morin. "ACS is using their
existing 10G network with only minor upgrades from Nortel to deliver
a high-bandwidth 40G solution that easily supports the new
capabilities customers want while keeping fees affordable through
savings on equipment and maintenance costs."
The ACS optical network solution includes the Optical Multiservice
Edge 6500 convergence platform and the Common Photonic Layer (CPL)
line system. This agile network solution allows service providers to
deliver high-growth, high-bandwidth broadband services with low
deployment and operational costs. Nortel Optical Network Manager will
provide the required operations administration and management for the
network and together with advanced network planning tools, will
provide the ability to build and operate the network and management
of services.
About Nortel
Nortel is a recognized leader in delivering communications
capabilities that make the promise of Business Made Simple a reality
for our customers. Our next-generation technologies, for both service
provider and enterprise networks, support multimedia and
business-critical applications. Nortel's technologies are designed to
help eliminate today's barriers to efficiency, speed and performance
by simplifying networks and connecting people to the information they
need, when they need it. Nortel does business in more than 150
countries around the world. For more information, visit Nortel on the
Web at www.nortel.com. For the latest Nortel news, visit
www.nortel.com/news.
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Networks.
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Contacts:
Nortel
Mary Pretotto
(905) 863-7777
Email: maryp@nortel.com
Website: www.nortel.com