MUNICH and MILAN -- The Indonesian telecommunications company PT Telkom has awarded a contract to Pirelli and Siemens IC Networks for the turnkey construction of a high-performance fiber-optic backbone network in Sumatra. The network will span the vast Indonesian island of Sumatra from east to west and become the basis for telecommunication development in this resource-rich region. The order is worth more than EUR70 million and will put the Siemens/Pirelli consortium in a strong position for future telecommunications projects in the region.The high-performance fiber-optic backbone in Indonesia is covering a length of more than 2000 kilometers and comprises a 345 kilometers DWDM transmission submarine link from the eastern coast of Sumatra to the resort and industrial island of Batam, situated 20 kilometers from Singapore. The link also foresees a possible extension to the State of Singapore. Siemens IC Networks, a leading provider in optical networking, will deliver the transmission technology, supply and install from its TransXpress familiy the DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) and SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) equipment. Pirelli will deliver the 12 fiber-optic terrestrial cable systems. The submarine link to the island of Batam will be supplied on a turnkey basis by Pirelli Submarine Telecom Systems (PSTS). This link will span more than 345 kilometers, with a transmission capacity of 40 Gbit/s on two fiber pairs, and will be equipped with Siemens TransXpress WLS equipment which is used for ultra-long unrepeatered submarine links, using state-of-the-art DWDM and integrated remote pumping technology. Siemens AG Pirelli SpA