SaskTel picks Alca-Lu for FTTP rollout

Canadian telco SaskTel has selected Alcatel-Lucent as the primary infrastructure provider for its project to implement a Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) converged network in the province of Saskatchewan.

The project will leverage Alcatel-Lucent’s High Leverage Network (HLN) architecture and involves a range of its wireline, IP and optical products.

SaskTel has also selected the Alcatel-Lucent 5780 Dynamic Services Controller (DSC) as a key service-enabling technology for its converged network.

Last April SaskTel announced that it will invest approximately CA$670m (US$698m) between now and 2017 in its Next Generation Broadband Access Program, including DSL sustainment and the deployment of GPON-based FTTP technology. It plans to upgrade the broadband network in the province’s nine largest urban centres, which are: Saskatoon, Regina, Moose Jaw, Weyburn, Estevan, Swift Current, Yorkton, North Battleford and Prince Albert.

The telco intends to invest CA$16m this year in the project, and will start providing homes in Regina and Saskatoon with FTTP services by the end of this year, offering speeds of up to 200 Mbps initially, with the capacity to significantly increase speeds over time.

SaskTel had reached 230,996 broadband subscribers by the end of 2010, up slightly from one year previously.