SBC said it is a step closer toward the widespread
rollout of IP
cable.
The San Antonio, Texas, telecom today announced that it will use
Amdocs software for ordering, billing and customer
relationship management
services.
SBC described the contract, which also includes consulting and systems
integration services, as a multi-year, multi-million-dollar deal.
“The ability to rapidly launch competitive and innovative services,
while delivering a differentiated customer experience, is essential for
success in the new IP-based economy,” Lea Ann Champion, an SBC senior
executive vice president, said in a statement.
It’s not the first time the companies have worked together. Two years
ago, SBC selected
Amdocs for a lucrative, long-term deal supporting its services unit.
SBC’s fiber plan, called Project Lightspeed, is a $4 billion capital
initiative to build an IP-based network to deliver TV, broadband and
voice services by deploying fiber-to-the-neighborhood and
fiber-to-the-premises technologies.
The company expects the network to reach 18 million households by the
end of 2007. The first set of services should be offered in late 2005
or early 2006. Similar efforts are being mounted by Verizon .
For the Baby Bells, the aim is to compete directly with cable companies
and be able to offer a triple play of services to consumers: voice, data
and video.
SBC has already awarded a number of other contracts for the project. For
example, it will use
Microsoft’s IP TV platform.
Denise Koenig, an SBC spokeswoman, said several other contracts are
still pending, including one for set-top boxes. She declined to comment
on the vendors involved in the process or the timetable for making a
decision.
