PLDT, Smart tap Nortel for network expansion

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), the country’s leading telecommunications provider, and its subsidiary Smart Communications, the country’s top mobile operator, have selected Nortel to implement network expansions to meet demand for voice and data services.

PLDT is undertaking the sixth expansion of its 10-gigabit dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) domestic fiber optic network (DFON) using Nortel optical solutions. This latest expansion in DFON’s transport infrastructure will further increase capacity and bandwidth to carry accelerating data and voice traffic. A significant portion of this capacity will be allocated to Smart to meet its growing transport needs.

In a separate project designed to address the evolving capacity requirements of Smart’s rapidly increasing global system for mobile communications (GSM) subscriber base, Nortel will also expand the wireless operator’s optical infrastructure to upgrade the Loop 6 portion of its Metro Manila network.

"We have chosen our incumbent optical equipment provider, Nortel, to implement this latest DFON expansion. Since DFON is based on Nortel’s DWDM optical technology, the company can deliver faster implementation, provide a single network management system, and enable reduced operational costs, since our operations personnel are already familiar with Nortel equipment," PLDT senior vice president George Lim said.

For his part, Nortel Phils. managing director Tony Pio de Roda said the continued selection of Nortel to implement expansion projects is a strong endorsement of the quality and reliability of their high-performance optical network solutions, and of their ability to provide ongoing upgrades to keep pace with growing market demands.

Under its sixth expansion, PLDT is deploying Nortel Optical Long Haul 1600 and Optical Cross Connect DX systems to light up another wavelength of 10G capacity in its DFON network. In addition, PLDT is deploying a number of Optical Metro 4100/4200 systems in different parts of the country. For its Metro Manila optical network expansion, Smart is deploying a Nortel Optical Multiservice Edge (OME) 6500 solution complemented by Optical Metro 4150 multiplexers.

The Nortel Optical Multiservice Edge 6500 packet-optical architecture allows multiple services and network layers to be converged onto a single platform. The platform supports both next generation packet and traditional optical services, whether on a new or existing network. The OME 6500 can deliver up to a 40 percent savings in capital and operational expenses for service providers, based on Nortel estimates.

Nortel Optical Metro 4150/4200 systems are the next generation of SDH equipment. Their flexibility allows them to be used at the network core, hub and edge. They also ensure a scalable evolutionary path to increase capacity as further wavelengths are added.

Nortel Optical Long Haul 1600 is a 10G platform that uses DWDM to optimize optical fiber capacity by merging as many as 160 channels of different wavelengths onto a single fiber for transmission.