NEC, a provider of microwave and optical solutions, today announced that Pannon, the second largest mobile operator in Hungary and a subsidiary of Telenor, has chosen NEC to build a national optical transport network. The contract will see NEC providing Metro WDM equipment from Transmode to Pannon's national network in Hungary and supplying design and operational support services.
In the last 2 years, Pannon has seen a rapid increase in data traffic on its network from bandwidth hungry mobile services and applications. NEC's optical solution is optimized for data traffic and can also handle important legacy voice traffic. The new optical network across the country maximizes the capacity of existing infrastructure and can be upgraded from coarse WDM to dense WDM working on either a single fibre or a fibre pair. This can accommodate capacity from STM-4, STM-16, up to Gigabit Ethernet channels using the iWDM solutions from NEC's partner, Transmode.
NEC has been a strategic supplier to Pannon for over a decade, providing various technologies including a network platform. NEC was chosen because of its leadership in network design and strong service capabilities, recognized track record of quality and reliability and the scalability and modularity of the TM-Series in conjunction with the industry leading functionality included in the iWDM solutions.
"In a competitive marketplace, telecom operators like us must invest in the most cost-effective and reliable network infrastructure to meet increasing bandwidth demand both now and in the future," said Gyorgy Koller, CTO of Pannon. "We have therefore recognized that NEC, along with Transmode's iWDM solution, saves us operational costs, scales well and allows us to future proof our network. NEC and Pannon have worked successfully together in the past and NEC has the ability to provide transmission for access and core over both fibre and wireless under one simplified management platform. We are very pleased with our relationship and hope it continues to thrive."
"Today's mobile ecosystem requires operators to respond quickly to fast changing demands. Consumers expect better services and a ‘killer' experience, and operators need their networks to perform. Having a cost effective and reliable network infrastructure will also help operators stabilize and increase ARPU. We are delighted to have been chosen by Pannon to provide the technology and expertise to support its evolving network needs and pleased that our partnership with Transmode has contributed to this," said Richard Hanscott, Vice President, Network Solutions, NEC Europe. "We have forged an extremely successful relationship with Pannon and hope to continue this into the future."
Karl Thedéen, CEO at Transmode, added, "Winning the contract from Pannon is a good example of how well the partnership between NEC and Transmode is working in the Eastern European market. Pannon is now ready not only to meet the current customer demand but also the increased bandwidth demands from high speed access technologies like HSPA and LTE in the most cost efficient way."