Groupe-E Generates New Revenue Streams with Nortel PBT, Metro Ethernet Solution
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SWISS UTILITY PICKS PBT FOR DELIVERING RESIDENTIAL AND BUSINESS SERVICES SIMPLY AND COST-EFFECTIVELY
DECEMBER 11, 2007
ZURICH - Swiss power company groupe-e has picked Nortel* [NYSE/TX:NT] to provide a Metro Ethernet Network solution that will deliver high-bandwidth Ethernet connectivity for supporting services such as VoIP, high-speed Internet access, Ethernet services, data centre consolidation and opens new prospects for IPTV. The new network will also provide the basis for future implementation of utility specific applications, such as remote meter reading.
groupe-e** is the number one company in power distribution in the French-speaking Swiss cantons of Fribourg and Neuchatel. In 1999 it entered the telecommunications market to diversify its business. While groupe-e's new communications services have gained in popularity, the additional bandwidth demand generated by these services requires a high capacity network and, like many other service providers, there is the dilemma of meeting service quality targets and controlling network cost.
groupe-e's new Nortel Metro Ethernet solution overcomes this because it is based on Provider Backbone Transport (PBT), a Nortel innovation that marries carrier-grade reliability and network management with the simplicity and cost-effectiveness of Ethernet. This enables utility companies offering communications services to launch new high-bandwidth services and have the same advanced service management capabilities as traditional carrier networks. By picking a cost-effective Ethernet infrastructure, groupe-e has acquired the ability to not only improve current services but also to quickly introduce new revenue-generating services.
"Our network investment in PBT is opening up real possibilities for saving money, improving business performance and looking at new opportunities to generate additional revenue," said Christian Tinguely, director, Energy Service, groupe-e. "As a strong local partner, already providing power and other infrastructure to local businesses and industry, we see a need to extend this to include cost-effective and leading-edge telecommunication infrastructure to help drive the local economy of the cantons of Fribourg and Neuchatel. For example, the increased bandwidth afforded by the network allows us to offer enhanced customer services such as Gigabit Ethernet Connectivity for our SMB customers and positions us to extend our current residential service offering to include VoIP and IPTV in the future."
"Regulatory demands and a progressively competitive industry are compelling utility companies like groupe-e to be more creative about business strategies by diversifying into non-traditional businesses such as telecommunications," said Thomas Marfurt, managing director, Nortel Switzerland. "PBT evolved through a close collaboration with customers to understand their business needs and groupe-e intends to use its network, delivered by the simplicity of PBT, to provide new telecommunications services that will benefit its customers in Switzerland."
The groupe-e solution is based on the Metro Ethernet Routing Switch 8600, which enables PBT control over Ethernet. PBT brings guaranteed performance to Ethernet, as it sets up known data paths with assigned bandwidth levels through the network. This enables true quality of service, meaningful service level agreements and sets aside specific paths for applications, critical for real-time communications like video, VoIP and streaming media.
groupe-e is also deploying Nortel's Metro Ethernet Manager as the management solution for the new network. Nortel's Metro Ethernet Manager will provide end-to-end service and PBT trunk provisioning, enhanced fault management and troubleshooting capabilities for the network. This provides groupe-e with an operational model consistent with its current network, minimizes retraining of operations staff, and takes advantage of the simplicity of Nortel's Metro Ethernet solution to provide services easily and rapidly.
About Nortel
Nortel is a recognized leader in delivering communications capabilities that make the promise of Business Made Simple a reality for our customers. Our next-generation technologies, for both service provider and enterprise networks, support multimedia and business-critical applications. Nortel's technologies are designed to help eliminate today's barriers to efficiency, speed and performance by simplifying networks and connecting people to the information they need, when they need it. Nortel does business in more than 150 countries around the world. For more information, visit Nortel on the Web at www.nortel.com. For the latest Nortel news, visit nortel.com/news.
