Hanover: Alcatel (www.alcatel.com), a worldwide leader in carrier-class network infrastructure solutions, has announced a multimillion euro contract with FastWeb (www.fastweb.it), one of the world's leading alternative broadband service providers.

The Alcatel solution will allow FastWeb to further expand its transport network - guaranteeing reliability and security - in order to provide innovative broadband services (voice, data and video) to its business and residential clients in Milan, Rome, Genoa, Turin and Naples and Bologna.

FastWeb was the first broadband telecommunications operator in Italy to use IP technologies on DSL and fibre-optic to offer business and residential customers an integrated system for simultaneous use of telephone, Internet and video services.

Other FastWeb services for corporate clients include virtual private networks (VPNs) over IP, and its business-to-employee (B2E) offer, wherein employees have the convenience of working at home and being able to access their company's local area network (LAN) at a speed of 10 megabits per second.

Using the Alcatel optical multi-service nodes (OMSNs) already in the network, FastWeb is able to support traditional services and provide seamless integration of new revenue-generating services, such as Metro Ethernet services. As a result, services such as Layer 2 VPNs and LAN-to-LAN interconnection, for example, can be provided in a more reliable and secure way.

Customer access to the FastWeb network will be optimised by the Alcatel 7300 advanced services access manager (ASAM), the world's most widely deployed broadband access platform. The Alcatel 7670 routing switch platform will be used to develop FastWeb's multi-service IP network and optimise the delivery of these differentiated services to business and residential subscribers. The Alcatel network management platform already in operation will be upgraded to include management of the new equipment.

''FastWeb is focused on innovative technologies that foster new services, which allow us to significantly increase our subscriber base while maintaining customer satisfaction,'' says FastWeb chief technology officer Alberto Trondoli. ''The growth of broadband services, such as web surfing, video-on-demand and videoconferencing, has led providers to deliver reliable and high-quality services to their customers through high-bandwidth multi-protocol networks.''

''As the leading supplier of broadband and optical technologies from access to core, Alcatel is well positioned to supply FastWeb with solutions that are flexible, scalable and reliable - solutions that enable FastWeb to continue to deliver the kind of innovative, reliable and exciting services that have made it a significant European broadband operator,'' says Alcatel president (Europe and South) Jacques Dunogué.

FastWeb is the leading broadband telecommunications operator in the six major metropolitan areas. The company creates the infrastructures and provides services in Milan, Rome, Genoa, Turin, Naples and Bologna. In these cities, FastWeb has reached a comprehensive market share of 10 per cent with areas of more than 30 per cent in some of the first areas activated.

At year-end, the network practically covered Milan, nearly reaching all of the companies, families and SOHOs (small offices, home offices) in the Lombard capital, which today boasts the most capillary fibre-optic network in the world. The other cities are following Milan with about a year delay with the advantage of being able to use the ducts of the Socrate Plan which has allowed FastWeb to significantly accelerate the rollout of the services and to greatly reduce the risk associated with digging activity.

At the same time, the use of DSL technology has allowed FastWeb to serve areas that are not yet reached by the network, awaiting the development of the networks. At the end of 2002, the FastWeb fibre-optic network measured about 10,000 km of which more than 6,000 km are local access. It had reached 1.2 million households while the number of connected buildings had increased to 43,500, more than four times when compared to 2001.

In 2002, FastWeb tripled revenues on the year, reaching euro 220.7 million. Further, the FastWeb reached EBITDA positive on an annual basis last year, equal to euro 9 million and had tripled its number of clients, bringing the total to 176,000.

Alcatel provides end-to-end communications solutions, enabling carriers, service providers and enterprises to deliver content to any type of user, anywhere in the world. Leveraging its long-term leadership in telecommunications network equipment as well as its expertise in applications and network services, Alcatel enables its customers to focus on optimising their service offerings and revenue streams. With sales of euro 16.5 billion in 2002, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries.