Industry News
Telstra and Alcatel Announce €270 Million Works Program for 2006/07
Telstra Corporation and Alcatel announced a works program for Telstra's fixed network transformation in 2006/07, with an expected value of €270 million (US$345 million).
This works program is part of Alcatel and Telstra's strategic supplier relationship announced in November 2005. It will see Telstra move to the next phase of its Internet Protocol (IP) network transformation that will deliver leading-edge services to 5.3 million Telstra customers over the next five years.
In 2006/07, Alcatel will establish an IP network footprint in five Australian cities - Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide - by supplying and deploying its leading portfolio of technology including IP-DSLAMs, Ethernet aggregation and optical networking solutions.
Another milestone achieved in the lead up to this next phase is the establishment of Telstra's new state-of-the art Integration Laboratory in Australia, which will be managed by Alcatel.
As part of the 2006/07 works program, Alcatel will test the first mated pair of softswitches in Australia, in the Telstra Integration Laboratory.
The 2006/07 works program reinforces Alcatel's position as the worldwide leader in providing technology solutions and integration services that allow carriers to reduce the costs and complexity of large-scale IP network transformation.
This technology upgrade is unrelated to Telstra's previous Fibre to the Node (FTTN) proposal, which was put on hold earlier this year.
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General Dynamics Awarded $45 Million For Abrams Urban Survivability Kits
The U.S. Army has awarded General Dynamics Land Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics, $45 million to produce and install 505 Tank Urban Survivability Kits (TUSK) for Abrams main battle tanks supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Continued deployment and world operations have emphasized the priority to update existing tanks with increased capability. To this end, General Dynamics, in partnership with the Army’s project manager, Heavy Brigade Combat Team, created the Abrams TUSK. An add-on kit for M1A1 and M1A2-series tanks to enhance crew survivability in urban environments, TUSK consists of a Loader’s Armor Gun Shield (LAGS), a Tank Infantry Phone (TIP), Abrams Reactive Armor Tiles (ARAT), a Remote Thermal Sight (RTS) and a Power Distribution Box (PDB).
Work will be performed in Tallahassee, Fla.; Westminster, Md.; Lima, Ohio; Sterling Heights, Mich.; Eynon, Pa.; and Southwest Asia by existing General Dynamics employees and is expected to be complete by April 2009.
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Raytheon Receives $20.7 Million Contract Award for Towed-Decoy Production
Raytheon Company has received a $20.7 million contract award for continued production of its ALE-50 line of towed decoys.
The award represents the 10th production lot of ALE-50 equipment ordered for the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy as part of an original contract that began in December 1996. The Lot 10 contract calls for 862 decoys for the Air Force and was awarded by the 542nd Combat Sustainment Group, Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Ga. Equipment acquired by the Lot 10 award will be delivered through September 2008.
Raytheon recently achieved production of its 20,000th ALE-50 decoy and 10 years of on-time deliveries.
Completion of the Lot 10 program will bring the total number of decoys produced by Raytheon to 23,365.
Towed decoy systems provide enhanced aircraft survivability by acting as a preferential target for many types of missile threats. Raytheon's ALE-50 system has played a key role in aircraft self-protection for several military conflicts and is currently operational on F-16, B-1B and F/A-18 aircraft. Work on the towed decoy system is being done at Raytheon's Space and Airborne Systems business by its Electronic Warfare Systems organization located in Goleta, Calif.
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Dell Plans Second Customer Contact Center in Philippines
Dell will open its second customer contact center in the Metro-Manila area early next year to provide additional technical support for U.S. consumers.
The new site is expected to take its first customer calls in February 2007. Staffing plans for the new location are being finalized.
Wednesday’s announcement continues Dell’s investment in customer support and in the Philippines. In March, Dell Chairman Michael Dell announced the expansion of Dell’s Pasay City customer support center from 700 employees to 1,400. It currently employs 900 customer support representatives.
In the last two years, Dell has announced or opened 10 new customer contact centers including the Pasay City center, which took its first call last February.
This year, Dell is increasing its investment in customer experience by more than $150 million, establishing new contact centers such those opened in the Philippines. Dell’s investment also includes improved training and introduction of new service tools. For example, DellConnect is a technology that uses broadband connections to let Dell’s support teams diagnose and troubleshoot technical issues remotely. DellConnect enjoys nearly 95 percent customer satisfaction among the more than one million customers who have had their issue resolved by agents using the tool.
Dell’s investment in people, training and technology tools is turning around the customer experience. Dell’s scores in the annual University of Michigan American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) improved 2.5 points overall, with specific gains in customer satisfaction, product quality and service quality. Dell’s internal "Likely to Repurchase" data registered its highest results for the past six quarters with a 6.5 percent increase for relationship customers and a 5 percent gain for transactional customers.
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Ericsson Acquires Assets of Finnish Software Company Distocraft
Representatives of Ericsson announced Thursday that it had reached an agreement with Finnish company Distocraft Oy to acquire the assets of Distocraft's business. The company, with 42 employees, specializes in software development for mobile network performance management.
With this acquisition, Ericsson will expand the capabilities of its market-leading OSS portfolio, addressing both new technologies, such as HSPA (High-Speed Packet Access), IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) and 3G LTE (3G Long-Term Evolution), and multivendor environments.
Distocraft is based in Lahti and Helsinki, Finland, and is an independent software vendor specializing in software development for mobile network O&M. Its operations are concentrated in the Nordic and Baltic region. The company's 42 employees will join Ericsson Finland.
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Boeing Wins $5.6 Million U.S. Air Force Contract to Enhance Threat Monitoring
The Boeing Company, a major developer of integrated intelligence solutions, has received a $5.6 million U.S. Air Force contract to enhance real-time situational awareness in the cockpits of tankers, bombers and heavy-lift aircraft.
The Combat Track II system currently is fielded in the B-52H, B-1B, C-130 and C-17 platforms as well as air operations centers around the world. This contract marks the first full system deployment on KC-135 aerial refueling assets. The Combat Track II system adds a reliable, secure UHF satellite communication and tracking capability to various AMC, ANG and Air Combat Command airframes, as well as a moving map for the aircrew.
Combat Track II is part of a family of systems from the Airborne Intelligence (AI) section of Boeing's Geospatial Intelligence program in Chantilly, Va. Software developed by the AI team receives, integrates and correlates national Intelligence and theater tactical broadcasts on military aircraft, providing timely intelligence to support combat forces. The latest enhancements to the Combat Track II system allow Line-of-Sight Link -16 tactical data to be transferred to aircraft over the horizon from traditional Link-16 networks.
Under this contract, Boeing also will continue to maintain systems integration and depot-level support to the units fielding Combat Track II kits. To date, Boeing has delivered more than 250 Combat Track II systems to the Air Force under contracts valued at $20 million.
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First Digital Wireless Communications System for African Railway Network
The Algerian Railways operator SNTF (Société Nationale des Transports Ferroviaires) has selected Nortel for the first phase of SNTF's national GSM-R project to provide a new wireless communication system that aims to enhance emergency procedures, improve operational efficiency, increase safety and reduce the overall cost of its operations. Nortel will deploy a GSM for Railways (GSM-R) network that will make SNTF the first African railway operator to adopt the new global GSM-R standard.
The new system will allow train drivers, station controllers and other railway employees to communicate with each other instantly and at any time, either individually or as separate groups. In the first phase of SNTF's GSM-R project awarded to Nortel, the network will be deployed along the El Gourzi - Touggourt line in Eastern Algeria.
Nortel will provide design and engineering services for SNTF's GSM-R network from the Nortel Global Services portfolio. Our local channel partner, SNEF Algeria, will supply construction, installation and commissioning support. "SNEF and Nortel share the same commitment to enhancing network quality and reducing the overall cost of operations," said Vincent Pratlong, Algeria operations director, SNEF.
With this new contract win, Nortel is the first supplier deploying GSM-R networks in the three continents of Europe, Asia and Africa. These include among other networks national deployments in France for RFF, in Great Britain for Network Rail, and in Germany for Deutsche Bahn. Nortel supplied as well the high-speed line between Rome and Naples, Italy for SIRTI. Nortel is also deploying a GSM-R network for the world's highest rail line, the Tibet-Qinghai high-speed line in China.
Nortel has been a pioneer in the GSM-R standards process since 1992, and has worked with UIC (Union Internationale des Chemins de Fer) and ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute). Nortel supplied equipment for the MORANE (Mobile Radio for Railways Networks in Europe) trial and was a major contributor to the EIRENE (European Integrated Railway radio Enhanced Network) GSM-R standard.
