Lucent Technologies will supply digital subscriber line
“Lucent’s Stinger MRT access platform will help us considerably expand our service footprint, allowing more of our customers to receive the kind of DSL service they’re requesting,” said Marce Maatsch, a Sprint executive.
Sprint LTD will deploy the Stinger FS+, RT and MRT platforms throughout its entire DSL network.
FS+ enables service providers to reduce equipment footprint and power consumption at central offices. RT is a hardened version of the Stinger chassis designed for use in outdoor cabinets, while MRT is a compact, hardened DSL system for the edge of the access network, enabling DSL service to be deployed to remote customers.
“The Stinger has the highest port density of any DSL platform in the market today, so it gives Sprint the opportunity to provide new services,” said Chuck Naylor, a vice president with Murray Hill, N.J.-based Lucent.
Demand for high-speed, always-on Internet access is among the bright spots for telecom. Strategy Analytics estimates that 27 percent of all U.S. Internet homes presently use broadband connections, with expectations of more than 70 percent by 2008 — that’s approximately 64 million subscribers or 59 percent of all U.S. homes.
The number of U.S. households using cable modems, DSL, or other broadband technologies to connect to the Internet will increase by more than 40 percent during 2003, when the projected installed base of residential broadband subscribers in the U.S. will grow from 17.9 million homes to 25.3 million homes by the end of 2003.
For Lucent, the deal comes two weeks after a string of contracts in Europe, some of which involved DSL equipment.
