FORE Systems Expands One of China's Largest Provincial Broadband Networks - Company Business and Marketing

Cambridge Telcom Report, Oct 18, 1999

FORE Systems, a leading global supplier for service providers building the new public network infrastructure, has won a major contract to provide Frame Relay solutions to the Guangdong Post and Telecommunications Administration (GPTA) in China. FORE, a wholly owned subsidiary of GEC and sister company to Marconi Communications, made the announcement at Telecom '99, Geneva.

As part of the agreement, GPTA, one of the largest provincial broadband networks in China today, will deploy FORE's FramePlus Frame Relay network modules in the FORE TNX line of ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) switches it already has deployed in its network backbone. The new Frame Relay capabilities expand the GPTA's ability to provide users with multiple independent data links to one or more destinations. The network, which covers 13 cities including Guangzhou in Guangdong province, already supports a wide range of services such as narrowband and broadband Internet access, e-commerce, video on demand (VoD), distance learning, and remote medical imaging and diagnosis.

"FORE's Frame Relay solutions enable us to further develop a much wider variety of services which will considerably enhance our competitiveness," said Chen Chang Juan, Deputy Director of the Guangdong Post and Telecommunications Administration. "We attribute the success of our full operation to FORE Systems' solutions, which serve as the foundation of our broadband network."

The GPTA's broadband network is the first provincial broadband network in China and is one of the most technologically advanced. The network has undergone three phases of development since it began operating in 1997. From the beginning, FORE Systems has provided a wide range of networking solutions to GPTA, including FORE's TNX ATM equipment which serve as the network's backbone switching infrastructure.

"Our long-standing relationship with the GPTA affirms the robustness of FORE's ATM network solutions as a platform to support multiple services such as Frame Relay," said Yudan Jin, FORE Systems' Vice President/Managing Director, Asia Pacific Region. "Our FramePlus Frame Relay module for ATM backbone switches is especially designed to handle the multiservice requirements of service providers."

FORE Systems began operations in China in 1997. The company has offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou that support the region's customers in the telecommunications and ISP service industries as well as a wide range of multinational enterprise organizations.

FORE Systems and Marconi Communications are wholly owned subsidiaries of GEC, a world leader in smart broadband optical networks, access equipment, switching technology for the Internet and network integration. GEC's recent acquisition of FORE Systems has positioned the company to be a leading player in the new public network and enterprise markets in addition to its established market leadership in the carrier and operators sphere. It has sales to more than 140 countries and a major presence in Europe, the USA, Africa and the Asia-Pacific Region.