PARIS, February 9, 2004 - Cisco Systems announced today that neuf telecom, formerly the LDCom Group, is rolling out TV over ADSL services to French residential customers using a 10 Gigabit Ethernet Broadband aggregation network from Cisco.
neuf telecom selected the Cisco 7600 Series router and Catalyst® 3550 Series switch as the foundation of a Quality of Service (QoS)-enabled IP video distribution network, which provides a platform for delivering the full triple-play (data, voice and video) of services over IP. This MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching) core network will deliver Gigabit Ethernet multi-service connectivity from the last mile ADSL infrastructure in local telephone exchanges, and 10 Gigabit Ethernet transport across the network core.
Following a successful pilot project in Boulogne-Billancourt near Paris, neuf telecom has deployed an infrastructure that will help enable Canal+ Group, France's largest pay-TV operator, to deliver its TV content offering to ADSL residential subscribers in the city of Marseille in March and will expand its geographical reach of services in the near future.
"As our network infrastructure needs to address the requirements of Content Providers and ISPs who want to provide triple play services over DSL, we recognized that only a Gigabit Ethernet and IP/MPLS architecture could provide the capacity to grow as we increase the numbers of subscribers on our network," commented Frangois Paulus, assistant general manager, Network and Support Division for neuf telecom (formerly LDCom). "The swift evolution of the TV over DSL market in France also means that we need the ability to rapidly introduce new IP-based services to meet our customers' future requirements."
"Running our own fibre into local telephone exchanges to aggregate Gigabit Ethernet uplinks from DSL Access Multiplexers (DSLAMs) will provide both the scalability and flexibility we need to offer unique service bundles such as Video on Demand (VoD) or local multimedia content delivery in the near future while remaining price competitive," added Paulus.
neuf telecom has been offering high-speed broadband DSL connectivity to residential customers since 2001. The new TV service offer will help neuf telecom to enhance its customers' experience and generate incremental revenue streams using a single converged network infrastructure.
"neuf telecom has already introduced innovative services such as Ethernet VPNs for enterprise and service provider customers, and is now able to maintain this innovative approach by using the same MPLS-enabled Metro Ethernet network to overlay additional services, such as TV over DSL," commented Paolo Campoli, director of solutions marketing, Cisco Systems, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). "The scalability and QoS service capabilities of the Ethernet and IP network combined with features such as IP multicast make it feasible for neuf telecom to deliver high quality TV programming to large numbers of DSL subscribers.
"The Cisco multimedia aggregation solution helps provide the Gigabit-speed bandwidth, the right level of network intelligence, and the controlled cost profile required to deliver TV over IP from servers to the ADSL last mile, across a metropolitan fibre infrastructure," added Campoli.
neuf telecom selected the Cisco 7600 Series router with 10 Gigabit Ethernet Interface Modules for transport across the MPLS-enabled network core, and Cisco Catalyst 3550 Series switches for Gigabit Ethernet connectivity into the DSL aggregation layer. The same MPLS-enabled core architecture also supports Ethernet VPN connectivity for large businesses and service provider customers, based on the Cisco IOS® MPLS Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS) technology.
About neuf telecom
The neuf telecom group (ex-LDCOM) is one of the leading fixed infrastructure and service providers in France. neuf telecom relies on its own nation-wide network, which allows for increasingly innovative offers and services at competitive rates. The group covers all market sectors and provides services to 200 operators and internet professionals, 500 corporate accounts, 70,000 companies and public service entities and 1.4 million customers, as well as value-added hosting for 2000 customers through Jet Multimidia. Forecasted revenues for 2003 are 1 billion euros. With the support of prevailing shareholders such as the Louis Dreyfus group, Suez and the national operators Telecom Italia and Belgacom, the group continues to invest in its network with the goal of becoming a major player in broadband in 2004. For more information please visit http://www.neuf.com.
