Alcatel Provides Muscle Behind Next-Generation Network; Kingston Vision will be the first to deploy Alcatel's newest broadband switch.

Business & High-Tech Editors

PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 3, 2000

Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA and NYSE: ALA) is deploying its newest product, the Alcatel 670 Routing Switch Platform (RSP) - at the Hull, UK, headquarters of Kingston Communications' (LSE: KCOM) subsidiary, Kingston Vision.

This follows the successful testing of the 670 RSP by major carriers worldwide. This announcement marks the first fully commercial deployment of the Alcatel 670 RSP.

The Alcatel 670 RSP is a next generation multiprotocol switch that integrates ATM (asynchronous transfer mode), MPLS (multiprotocol label switching) and IP (Internet protocol). It currently scales from 50 Gb/s to 450 Gb/s - with a future potential traffic capacity of five Tb/s - and perfectly serves carrier requirements to cope with the explosive traffic growth predicted as broadband Internet access and new content-based services are rolled out.

In this first deployment, the Alcatel 670 RSP will power Europe's most-advanced DSL-based information and entertainment services launched by Kingston in December 1999. These services, trading as Kingston Interactive Television (KIT), are now being expanded across East Yorkshire, UK, and include true video-on-demand video, digital broadcast television, email, high-speed 'always-on' Internet and online shopping, bringing added benefits to standard telephony services.

Tim Forshaw, Director of Product Marketing for Alcatel's EMA region, said: "The 670 RSP has been specifically designed to meet the challenges inherent in next-generation networks. Through the support of ATM and IP/MPLS protocols on one high capacity platform, the Alcatel 670 RSP provides a cost effective core solution for efficient switching and routing of multi-service traffic from a wide variety of services and IP-based applications."

KIT already relies on Alcatel DSL at the network edge, and network provider Kingston Vision is now installing six 670 RSP's. The services at Kingston place strenuous technical and commercial demands on the core network. The distribution of broadcast digital television, for instance, requires very high performance IP multicasting whilst maintaining excellent picture quality, all at an attractive subscription rate. In addition, each home has access to 5.5 Mb/s of bandwidth, 100 times more than the fastest dial-up modems, and the aggregation of that traffic requires very high data throughput. Lastly, consumer demand for the services is predicted to grow very strongly, meaning that the throughput of the network needs to be able to scale rapidly without service interruption. The 670 RSP is uniquely able to meet all of these requirements.

Matt Child, managing director of Kingston Vision, said: "Due to customer demand, we have expanded our DSL-based broadband entertainment network and are pumping increasingly huge volumes of time-sensitive, rich data down ordinary phone lines to our customers. The 670 RSP makes sure it gets there quickly, without any compromise in quality or performance."

Alcatel is the world-wide market leader in DSL, and with the recently completed acquisition of Newbridge Networks also enjoys No.1 or No.2 market position on a country-by-country basis for core broadband switching. This contract has an added significance in that it is the first concrete example in Europe of the attraction to customers of the combined, end to end broadband offering.

Pearse Flynn, President of Alcatel's Carrier Networking Group, recently stated: "I have only one goal, and that is to ensure that Alcatel equipment captures, aggregates and switches the lion's share of the world's broadband traffic."