Alcatel-Lucent delivers cutting-edge e-learning, voice and Internet services to Thailand’s Khon Kaen University

Paris.-Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today announced that Thailand’s Khon Kaen University (KKU), has implemented an all Alcatel-Lucent data network that delivers cutting-edge e-learning, voice and Internet services to the faculty and its students. The enhanced infrastructure will help KKU become a significant center of research and development in the northeast of Thailand.

KKU’s Gigabit Ethernet backbone network is comprised of 90 km of optical fiber linking 8,500 connection points throughout the 120 buildings on the campus. The network provides the performance necessary for KKU to deliver a full suite of converged services, including Internet access, instant messaging, Voice over IP (VoIP), video teleconferencing and e-learning programs.

“Reliability is an essential element of our network because our students, faculty and staff are dependent on our converged services. We found the reliability of Alcatel-Lucent’s technology superior to that of the other vendors we considered,” said Charat Mongkolsawat, associate professor at KKU. “With this solution, we are able to combine e-learning programs, messaging, web access and telephony on the same network, which has helped make us the educational leader in this region.”

“Dynamic Enterprises around the world are building next-generation networks with the security, performance and reliability needed to make them platforms for Web 2.0 services,” said Tom Burns, Chief Operating Officer of Alcatel-Lucent’s Enterprise activities. “Khon Kaen University is a perfect example because it is very aggressive in supporting applications that build a better education and research environment.”

The university’s network infrastructure features a combination of Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch 7000 switches forming the network core, OmniSwitch 6600 and 6800 switches spread through the network for aggregating data, and OmniStack 6100 and 6300 switches providing access for the 8,500 nodes on the network. Because the entire solution supports the same AOS operating system, the entire network provides the same services and management from end-to-end.

The network was implemented and is maintained by Alcatel-Lucent and its regional value-added reseller business partner Bangkok-based International Research Corporation Public (IRCP), which provides on-demand network service.