Alcatel to supply 40,000 km of optical fiber to upgrade NetRail's network infrastructure - Networks - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

Fiber Optics Business, Feb 28, 2002

Alcatel announced a supply agreement with NetRail, a telecom service provider wholly owned by REFER, Portugal's Rail Infrastructure Manager. In the course of the Portuguese telecommunications market's liberalization, NetRail is rapidly enhancing and upgrading its existing network infrastructure. As NetRail's sole supplier, Alcatel will supply more than 40,000 km of cabled optical fiber, including both Alcatel's TeraLight Metro and standard singlemode fibers.

TeraLight Metro is Alcatel's non-zero dispersion shifted fiber optimized for applications in networks covering distances between 70 and 200 km. Designed for operating in systems carrying densely packed data at high transmission rates, TeraLight Metro features especially low attenuation, or signal loss. TeraLight Metro's efficient and cost-saving design allows it to carry optical transmissions without the need to add several signal regeneration or compensation devices.

Originally looking for multiple suppliers and for standard single mode fibers only, NetRail was impressed by the high performance of TeraLight Metro and its potential to evolve with their needs over time. Additionally, Alcatel's responsiveness and ability to meet NetRail's tight deadlines were deciding factors in closing the deal. NetRail is currently installing an optical fiber network and an STM-16 backbone along 2,500 km of the Portuguese territory.