MTN Nigeria picks Alcatel-Lucent for DSL access

Largest mobile telecom operator in the country, MTN Nigeria has picked the Alcatel-Lucent brand of Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) offering to optimise access and aggregate network transformation using its High Leverage Network (HLN).

Disclosing this Monday in a press statement made available to ITRealms Online, the Marketing and Communication at Alcatel-Lucent Nigeria, Ms Annie Essienette, said that MTN Nigeria with over 30 million subscribers, has concluded plans to transform its DSL access and aggregation network using Alcatel-Lucent’s solution.

She quoted the President of Alcatel-Lucent’s activities in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Mr. Adolfo Hernandez, as saying that this allows MTN Nigeria to cost-effectively transform its Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM)-based transport networks into an all-Internet Protocol (IP) powered network.

Time-division multiplexing (TDM) is a type of digital multiplexing in which two or more signals or bit streams are transferred. While the DSL is a generic name for digital lines that are provided by telephone companies to their local subscribers inclusive of data carriage.

Additionally, DSL is high-speed Internet service that operates over standard telephone lines, meaning that both voice and DSL could coexist on copper lines.

Hernandez noted that by transiting from legacy TDM to next-generation IP, MTN would realize a simplified, lower cost, reliable and highly scalable infrastructure that will grow as they do.

He also said that Alcatel-Lucent’s IP cum Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS)-based solution and a rich set of comprehensive services would afford MTN Nigeria to generate new revenue streams by leveraging broadband IP to deliver video rich content and multimedia data services and application awareness to deliver premium and managed services to enterprise customers.

This new network, according to him is based on Alcatel-Lucent’s High Leverage Network (HLN) architecture, which combines an all-IP network infrastructure, underpinned by MPLS and pseudo wire technologies, with embedded intelligence and application awareness in order to improve the end-user’s experience and bring new services to market more efficiently on a common IP platform.

“Alcatel-Lucent is fully engaged to help customers drive their transformation and business in the most cost-effective way”, said Hernandez, stressing that in this regard, Alcatel-Lucent would ensure that MTN Nigeria save on operational expenditure (OPEX) due to the simplicity of common operational processes and procedures.

“They’ll have a network in place which supports a smooth transition to Long Term Evolution (LTE) if they choose to do so,” he said.

Equally commenting on the choice of Alcatel-Lucent on this project, the Group chief executive officer MTN West Africa, Mr. Ahmad Farroukh, said that since inception, MTN Nigeria has invested in cutting-edge technology in order to deliver world-class products and services to its customers.

“We are pleased to partner with Alcatel-Lucent to deliver a solution that will improve customer experience. Our customers are kings and we are committed to deploying the latest advances in technology to serve them better” he assured.

ITRealms Online gathered that under the terms of the agreement, Alcatel-Lucent will deploy its industry-leading IP/MPLS solution, including its 7750 Service Router (SR) and 7705 Service Aggregation Router (SAR) along with the Alcatel-Lucent 5620 Service Aware Manager (SAM). The Alcatel-Lucent IP portfolio will allow MTN Nigeria to deliver scalable, evolvable, cost-efficient and fully-managed IP-based transport allowing the leading operator to reduce operating expenditures and quickly deploy advanced, revenue-generating services.

Additionally, Alcatel-Lucent would provide MTN Nigeria with a set of comprehensive professional services including project management, engineering, training, survey, installation, and cabling as part of the agreement.

Remmy Nweke:
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