BT’s Openreach taps ECI Telecom for broadband access gear

BT’s Openreach taps ECI Telecom for broadband access gear
JULY 6, 2010 — Openreach, part of the BT Group, has selected ECI Telecom as a strategic partner in BT’s broadband infrastructure deployment. The new open-access broadband network will combine fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) GPON and fiber-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) VDSL2 technologies.Openreach recently announced plans to invest a further £1 billion (£2.5 billion in total) to extend deployment of FTTP and FTTC to around two-thirds of the UK by 2015.Openreach will deploy ECI’s Hi-FOCuS Multi-Service Access Node (MSAN) to roll-out a FTTP and FTTC network countrywide, ECI Telecom says. ECI will also provide Openreach with customer premises equipment, street cabinets, and service integration and commissioning.Openreach will deploy ECI’s Hi-FOCuS MSAN to ensure quality-of-service capabilities, scalability, and performance, the systems house says. The system supports multiple telecom providers through the same access fiber loop and enables Openreach to deliver equivalence to each communications provider as directed by Ofcom, the UK’s telecommunications regulator.“With ECI as a strategic partner for this very advanced carrier-of-carriers architecture, we are able to upgrade our infrastructure offerings to communications providers and guarantee the provision of equivalency to all our customers,” says Steve Robertson, Openreach’s CEO. “ECI’s offerings are in line with our vision of a straightforward, more integrated, and competitive network, simplifying management and supporting the optimization of our next-generation access network in an environmentally friendly and responsible way.”Openreach is responsible for the nationwide local BT network which connects homes and businesses across Britain to communications providers’ networks. Openreach provides communications providers with services and products associated with that network.