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Pan-European Petabit Capacity Network Planned (06/30/99, 6:47 a.m. ET) By Margie Semilof, Computer Reseller News French telecom equipment giant Alcatel will be one of the primary players in the construction of a new European broadband network to launch Wednesday in London, built to serve growingdemand for domestic and international IP services. The announcement will include a telecommunications service provider and a consortium of participants, who are building what they say is the world's first petabit capacity (1,000 terabits per second) network. Network construction, which reportedly is under way, will be 90 percent complete by the end of 2000, according to the project managers. The network will cost more than $2 billion and involve more than 13,000 miles of cable linking 70 cities and up to 200 points of presence, the group said. Analysts said the point of having a petabit network is moot because routers do not support those speeds. Today's fastest networks are running at OC 192, or about 10 gigabits. Although advertisement of a petabit network is hyperbole, there is no denying the thirst for bandwidth is unquenchable, said Joe Skorupa, director of core switching and routing at Ryan Hankin Kent, a San Francisco-based consulting firm. Caching can solve some network congestion problems, but many people still would like to deliver high-resolution video or audio on a network. "The good news is bandwidth is available on the backbone, the question is how will you have access to it?" Skorupa said. The race to create global telecom networks is in full swing and everyone wants a piece of the action. Nearly one year ago, AT&T and British Telecommunications unveiled a $10 billion global venture linking the two companies. European carriers also are aligning to fend off offshore competition. Deutsche Telekom is itching to create a pan-European telecommunications company and has stated plans to pursue acquisitions in the wake of its failed bid to acquire Telecom Italia earlier this year. United Kingdom-based Cable & Wireless also is ripe for partnership following its purchase of MCI WorldCom's Internet business last year.
In addition to its pending bids for US West and Frontier, Bermuda up-start Global Crossing also is building a global phone network. Earlier this year the carrier purchased underwater cables from Cable & Wireless for $885 million in cash.
U.K. Plays Catch-Up With E-Commerce Alcatel Accelerates Convergence Strategy GlobeNet Dives Underseas To Link Continents
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