Marconi Lights Italian Backbone

LONDON and GENOA -- Marconi (MONI) today announced that it has successfully completed the delivery of over 300 DWDM optical systems to Vodafone Omnitel to meet the availability requirements and the capacity demands of the broadband mobile 3G network. The agreement to supply the optical network equipment was announced in January 2002. Marconi's technology will enable Vodafone Omnitel to light-up almost 12,000 Km of fibre-based infrastructure, connecting all major Italian cities. The agreement will combine the granularity of SDH technology with the broadband volume capacity of DWDM, and also enable significant reduction in the operational costs of Vodafone Omnitel's broadband mobile network. Giorgio Bertolina, Executive Chairman of Marconi Communications S.p.A. said: "In the current economic climate, it is more important than ever to ensure our customers can capitalise on their existing investment and infrastructure. Our technology has been specifically designed to allow this and the Vodafone Omnitel project is a clear demonstration of this strategy in action." Today's announcement covers the delivery of over 300 DWDM Marconi systems including PLTs Photonics Line Terminals (PLTs), Photonics Line Amplifiers (PLAs) and Photonics Line Add/Drop (PLDs). The DWDM layer can support 2.5Gb/s and 10Gb/s signals enabling Vodafone Omnitel to meet the growing demand for high bandwidth data traffic. Additionally it positions the company strongly in the Italian market to meet the demands that will come from the introduction of 3G services, allowing Vodafone Omnitel to dynamically upgrade its existing network to a maximum capacity of 80 channels for 10Gbit/s. Under the comprehensive agreement between Marconi and Vodafone Omnitel, announced in January this year, Marconi will provide the company with an integrated range of SDH ring terminals, a DWDM line system, optical cross connects, integrated network management, installation and training, together with network maintenance and 24/7 technical support. Marconi plcVodafone Omnitel