Oct 19 2007
TEO LT AB Lithuania's incumbent integrated telecommunication, IT, and TV services provider, says it has completed the installation of a "new-generation network" that will enable it to provide higher quality services to customers. The company expects it will have invested more than 75 million Lithuanian litas (LTLs -- approximately $31 million) in the new network's infrastructure by the end of the year.
According to Darius Didzgalvis, COO of TEO, "Over the last five years, the speed of Internet access provided to users has increased by approximately 20 times. We think that similar tendencies will continue in the future as well; therefore we inevitably had to implement an essential qualitative upgrading of our network."
The infrastructure of the new-generation network of TEO consists of three parts: data centers, backbone network, and user access. The upgrading of all three areas will enable TEO to considerably improve the reliability of services provided and to reduce the number of possible faults by more than 2X, the carrier believes.
The backbone network upgrade has improved reliability as it is structured according to different customer needs and features redundant network nodes. Services are formed on this basis of a regional principle, therefore possible individual faults will no longer have any effect on the general operation of the network, TEO says.
The new fiber-optic user access in future will enable an increase of access speeds provided to end users up to 1 Gbit/sec. The fiber-optic network will provide users with the possibility to enjoy high-quality services through a single Internet access line: to make telephone calls, to watch digital TV, to browse the Internet, and to send video records simultaneously, the company adds.
TEO expects to initially target the residents of the five largest cities in Lithuania for service rollout over the fiber-optic network.
Since the beginning of 2006, TEO Group has invested about LTL 10 million ($4.13 million) in data centers. Investments in the upgrading of the backbone network amounted to more than LTL 30 million ($12.4 million). This year another more than LTL 35 million ($14.5 million) will be invested in fiber-optic user access. It is planned that already at the end of this year the possibility to use the fiber-optic Internet will be provided to more than 2,000 multiple-dwelling units.