Alcatel, ECI Land DT Gig

HANNOVER, Germany – CeBIT 2006 – Alcatel (NYSE: ALA; Paris: CGEP:PA) and ECI Telecom Ltd. have emerged as two key systems suppliers for the initial stages of Deutsche Telekom AG (NYSE: DT)'s €3 billion (US$3.6 billion) next-generation broadband network rollout that's based on a fiber-to-the-curb strategy. (See DT Flings Billions at Fiber Access.)

T-Com, the carrier's German national division, is deploying Alcatel's 7750 router in its initial 10-city rollout, including Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, and Hamburg. (See DT Uses Alcatel IP Gear.)

The 7750 has been gaining significant traction with Tier 1 carriers in the past 12 to 18 months and has helped Alcatel build a meaningful position in IP edge routing, a market for which the vendor has growth plans. (See Alcatel Signs BT 21CN Deal, China Telecom Deploys 7750, Alcatel Router Revenues Surge, and Sources: Alcatel Plans IP Growth.)

ECI, an incumbent DSLAM provider to T-Com, is supplying its Hi-Focus5 multiservice access gateways and MiniShelf Remote Terminals to be used in street cabinets. (See ECI Deployed for VDSL2.)

Both products include the VDSL2 capabilities the carrier wants to deploy in the final copper connection to its customers. (See ECI, Keymile Debut IP DSLAMs.)

While ECI declines to identify the German carrier as its VDSL2 customer, it's widely known and acknowledged that Deutsche Telekom is the customer in question. (See ECI: Nortel Didn't Deliver.)

Ron Levin, a marketing manager at ECI's broadband access division, confirms that, while the vendor has been quick off the mark with delivering its VDSL2 capabilities, it's not the exclusive supplier of next-generation DSL access equipment for T-Com's rollout.

The carrier plans to launch IPTV and video-on-demand services, including high-definition TV (HDTV) streams, across the VDSL2 connections, which will provide bandwidths up to 50 Mbit/s downstream and 10 Mbit/s upstream. It had hoped to launch some services by this summer, in time for the Fußball World Cup that is being hosted in Germany.

The German carrier is forging ahead with its broadband upgrade despite ongoing regulatory uncertainty about competitive access to the new infrastructure. DT wanted protection from the German regulator, with a grace period of at least three years before competitors could share the network's capacity on a wholesale basis.

But those hopes have been shot down by the European Commission, which has said such a move would contravene European Union regulations. The carrier continues to hold talks with regulators about the future use of the new network.

— Ray Le Maistre, International News Editor, Light Reading