Telecommunication failures rectified<\/p>\n
By Reiner Simanjuntak<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (JP): New telecommunications technology has offered
\ntelecom carriers a cheaper and more resilient way to increase
\ntheir network capacity in transmitting voice and data signals, to
\nmeet the rising demand on telecom services like Internet, tele-
\nbanking and other multimedia applications.<\/p>\n
According to experts at a conference on transmission
\ntechnology held in Singapore last week, among its many promises,
\nthe advancing technology puts an end to huge economic losses due
\nto telecommunications failure caused by rising traffic.<\/p>\n
The seminar was sponsored by giant telecom equipment-makers
\nAlcatel and Lucent Technologies.<\/p>\n
One of the latest transmission technologies is the Synchronous
\nDigital Hierarchy (SDH) system, or its U.S. equivalent,
\nSynchronous Optical Network (SONET), which has been increasingly
\napplied by telecom carriers worldwide.<\/p>\n
Laurie Doyle, of Alcatel's transmission division system,
\npointing out the estimated large business losses incurred by
\ntelecommunications failure, said an important feature of SDH is
\nthe prevention of this through its self-healing protection and
\nautomatic restoration mechanism.<\/p>\n
He cited the 1987 average loss figure in the U.S., which was
\n$3 million per hour for a major airline carrier, and $6 million
\nper hour in a financial or trading institution.<\/p>\n
Because of SDH's reliability, network operators would no
\nlonger need to have their maintenance crew working round the
\nclock to fix network problems.<\/p>\n
SDH also has the flexibility to adjust the network in a timely
\nway to react to traffic changes as demand for telecom services
\nrises. For past transmission networks, setting up a new end-user
\nservice would need a new network, which could take weeks or even
\nmonths to install.<\/p>\n
"The SDH network provides transverse compatibility between
\nequipment produced by different manufacturers. The entire
\ncommunications stream would no longer have to be torn apart and
\nreassembled every time a signal has to be added or dropped,"
\nDoyle said<\/p>\n
Instead, the signals are collected and routed through a
\ngrooming mechanism within a synchronous frame, he explained.<\/p>\n
Another important feature of SDH is a lower cost of ownership
\nthanks to its centralized network management.<\/p>\n
The centralized management can greatly accelerate the
\nprovision of new services, allowing telecom operators to start
\nnew source of earnings much sooner.<\/p>\n
This system could also determine the quality of services
\nprovided and measure slow resource degradation, thereby helping
\nto anticipate future maintenance requirements before a fault
\nactually occurs.<\/p>\n
Alcatel's business development and communications director,
\nMario Pagani, said: "The SDH technology is future proof
\ninvestment as it can be used together with the Wavelength
\nDivision Multiplexing (WDM) technology."<\/p>\n
The WDM system is another transmission breakthrough boosting
\nthe transmission capacity by reusing the installed optical
\nfibers, especially in metropolitan networks which have begun to
\nshow signs of fiber congestion.<\/p>\n
The use of this new system is expected to increase over the
\nnext few years when a more sophisticated networking system,
\ncalled "all-optical networks", is commercially available,
\nproviding the potential to manage and deliver an unprecedented
\namount of bandwidth capacity.<\/p>\n
The highest transmission rate under the SDH system mostly used
\ntoday is at 2.4 gigabits per second (Gbps); 10 Gbps capacity is
\nalso available.<\/p>\n
By combining SDH with WDM, the capacity could be boosted to
\n400 Gbps per fiber.<\/p>\n
Alcatel is the leader in the transmission systems market,
\nholding 28 percent of market share worldwide. By far, Alcatel has
\nthe largest installed base of optical networks in the European
\nmarket.<\/p>\n
The company is currently involved in the world's longest and
\nmost complex undersea fiber optic telecom system, which stretches
\nmore than 30,000 km, connecting the Pacific Rim, Southeast Asia,
\nthe Middle East and Western Europe.<\/p>\n
By combining the use of SDH and WDM, the project is capable of
\ncarrying 500,000 telephone conversations simultaneously.<\/p>\n
Alcatel is the major supplier of SDH and WDM equipment,
\nundersea cables and electronics.<\/p>\n
Customer testing of the project is scheduled for the middle of
\n1998, with the first part of the network scheduled to enter
\nservice at the end of the year.<\/p>\n
In Indonesia, Alcatel's SDH system is being used to develop PT
\nTelkom's network in Java; PT Indosat's backbone network
\nconnecting Jakarta-Surabaya; and in several other transmission
\nprojects.<\/p>\n
About 50 percent of Indonesia's telecommunications network has
\nbeen installed using SDH, with several new transmission projects
\nto be tendered soon, including installing a WDM system in the
\nMaluku-Irian Jaya regional network.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/telecommunication-failures-rectified-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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