Singapore Slings for AlcaLu, Huawei

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. is the main vendor beneficiary of Singapore's plan to deliver truly high-speed fiber access broadband to nearly all of the island state's homes and businesses, while Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) is to play a key but less lucrative role. (See Singapore Unveils Digital Hub Vision, Huawei Wins NBN Deal, and AlcaLu Wins in Singapore.)

It was already well known that the two vendors were in line to land contracts from StarHub Pte. Ltd. subsidiary Nucleus Connect, the appointed Operating Company (OpCo) for the National Broadband Network (NBN). (See Vendors Close In on Singapore's NGN and AsiaWatch: StarHub Lands NGN Role.)

Huawei has bagged the deal to supply the active infrastructure for the whole of the network rollout. The Chinese vendor says it's providing the following: "80-Tbps IP core Clustering Router, Next Generation DWDM optical transmission, Aggregation Service Router, Terabit GPON access platform, Carrier Ethernet Switch, Multi-service ONTs and the Unified network management system." And a kitchen sink. We think.

Although the value of Huawei's seven-year deal hasn't been made public, Nucleus Connect CEO David Storrie told a press conference that Huawei had landed 70 percent of the value of the rollout, with AlcaLu's deal accounting for the remaining 30 percent. See this Channel News Asia report for more details.

Alcatel-Lucent is supplying "a turn-key Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) BSS/OSS solution including software, hardware and professional services, to support its OpCo operations and business models." And there's more (and this is worth it): "Consisting of a scalable platform for content and application onboarding, the solution will facilitate the bundling and rapid introduction of new services via an on-line virtual mall."

(Onboarding? Is that like snowboarding?)

AlcaLu's package includes network and service assurance, fulfillment, inventory management, and billing systems, plus a service delivery platform (SDP) for the "onboarding" of services.

The vendor is also performing the same role for OpenNet, the appointed Network Company (NetCo) that is building the passive infrastructure for the NBN. (See OpenNet Picks AlcaLu.)

Nucleus Connect's contract awards leave Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC) out in the cold (OutCo), at least for now: The Swedish vendor, which has at least started to generate some GPON heat, had been engaged with Nucleus Connect, and its equipment even featured in a central office mock-up on display at this year's CommunicAsia show. (See BBWF: Ericsson Enters AT&T's GPON Domain.)

But Ericsson might get another shot at becoming a supplier for the NBN, as Nucleus Connect is likely to be joined by other OpCos in the future. (See Singapore Makes FTTH Strides .)

Nucleus Connect plans to commence commercial operations during the first quarter of 2010, though the company hasn't yet committed to a timetable for the availability of the resulting broadband services. However, the OpCo notes that "Singaporeans can expect to have ultra high-speed broadband connectivity of up to 1 Gbit/s in 95 percent of homes and offices by December 2012."

— Ray Le Maistre, International News Editor, Light Reading