Alcatel-Lucent launches new Fiber-to-the-User capabilities

Doubling capacity of FTTU system and introducing new ONTs that cover all customer types

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today announced new innovations to its market-leading 7342 ISAM Fiber-to-the-User (FTTU) system with the introduction of Release 4.4. Among the new features on this gigabit passive optical network (GPON) system are quad port line cards, which effectively double the system density, including 10 Gigabits per I/O slot. Release 4.4 also supports VoIP with SIP and H248 and supports IPTV with IGMPv3 for fast TV channel change.

In addition, Alcatel-Lucent has introduced three new optical network terminals (ONTs) for residential, multi-dwelling units and businesses, which gives it the widest range of industry leading ONTs for all customer types.

The Residential ONT (I-ONT) is ultra-compact and supports 2 Gigabit Ethernet ports - an innovation for FTTU systems. The industry’s most compact Multi-Dwelling Unit ONT (M-ONT) is capable of serving up to 12 living units with primary phone lines and either VDSL or Ethernet data. It addresses the Fiber-to-the-Building segment with full quality of service since each VDSL copper user has the same Quality of Service (QoS) as fiber connected GPON users - each VDSL user is effectively treated as if they are a fiber user. Finally, the Business ONT (B-ONT) supports voice, gigabit Ethernet and legacy services (TDM E1) with accurate clock-synchronization for mobile backhaul of 2G, 3G, WiMax and business-leased lines. The new ONTs give service providers the flexibility to optimize their deployments based on network topologies and their business/residential subscriber mix.

“Alcatel-Lucent is continually leading the GPON market with an array of new features that increase the capacity, density and functionality on an already robust solution set” said Dirk Van den Berghen, President, Alcatel-Lucent wireline access activities. “With over 60 FTTx projects around the world, many with top tier providers, more than 30 of which are with GPON — Alcatel-Lucent is an undisputed leader in broadband access and end-to-end triple play solutions.”

The Alcatel-Lucent 7342 ISAM FTTU extends the bandwidth potential of fiber from the network core to the subscriber premises using the latest GPON recommendations of the Full Service Access Network (FSAN) group. The ISAM product family is designed for 100% IPTV and NGN /IMS voice convergence in access. Moreover, it provides an unsurpassed IPTV experience with a 5 star rating for video support (Current Analysis report of January 2007), as well as cost effective migration to packet-based voice, thereby offering support for any type of voice application – NGN and Class 5.