Atlas - Case Study 

Challenges
Alternative operator Atlas Telecom Romania needed an integrated broadband access solution that would allow it to provide new triple play services to business and residential customers in Romania.

Solution
Atlas deployed ECI Telecom’s Hi-FOCuSTM MSAN (multi-service access node) platform in an ADSL2+ and VDSL2 configuration, with respective customer premises equipment.

Results
With ECI’s Hi-FOCuS MSAN line, Atlas was able to efficiently expand its broadband access network for triple play, cost effectively bringing new services to its subscriber base.

Competing through innovation
The first alternative operator to implement a broadband network in Romania, Atlas Telecom has been providing telephony and bundled Internet services to business and residential customers throughout Romania since 2001. Since its inception, the company has been a pioneer in developing advanced services and adopting new broadband technologies, and was the first provider in Romania to offer commercial ADSL2+ (asymmetrical digital subscriber line 2) and subsequently VDSL2 (very high speed digital subscriber line 2) services. As an alternative operator competing with the incumbent carrier in Romania, Atlas Telecom needs to provide cutting-edge services to its customers – and do so at a competitive price. In 2006, Atlas set out to expand its existing broadband network. The company was in search of a solution that would provide it with the ability to cost-effectively offer triple play (voice, video, and data) services to its business and residential subscribers. The new solution had to fit a combination of several physical topologies: an ADSL2+ platform co-located in the incumbent carrier’s central offices, a VDSL2 platform located in Atlas’s own street cabinets, and customer premises equipment. And it had to be deployed on an aggressive timeline.

Why ECI
When evaluating solutions for its broadband infrastructure expansion, Atlas opted to put the equipment through its paces in the field. Said Dan Balaci, xDSL Project Manager at Atlas Telecom, “Our vision was to utilize the finest approach possible, and we felt that field trials would best allow us to determine how various vendors’ equipment would perform in real-life scenarios, not only in a controlled lab environment.” Balaci continued, “We found that ECI’s product line provided the greatest level of flexibility, with a range of platforms to fit varying physical locations from central offices to outside plants to customer premises. In addition, ECI’s equipment supports multiple DSL technologies, enabling the support of all broadband services over a single network. An integrated solution such as ECI’s provides important business benefits for alternative carriers like Atlas, as it provides future-proof versatility while eliminating interoperability issues and providing operational efficiencies, allowing us to compete more effectively with the incumbent carriers.” What’s more, Atlas found a trusted partner in ECI. “As a smaller ISP, many equipment vendors don’t often provide the level of attention that we need. This was not the case with ECI. ECI’s team was highly professional, giving us the attention we required and working hand in hand with us to design an advanced access solution that fit our needs,” said Balaci. ”And they did so on a very aggressive timeline.” Added Pompiliu Tripa, Atlas Telecom’s President and CEO, “We chose ECI as our primary broadband supplier because their cost-effective solutions met our needs for expanding our high-bandwidth broadband services. ECI’s flexibility, responsiveness, and complete set of versatile MSAN platforms were key as we could identify the appropriate solutions for our diverse current and future needs.”

The solution: inside and out
ECI provided its Hi-FOCuS 5 MSAN platform in ADSL2+ and VDSL2 IP DSLAM configurations to support Atlas Telecom’s applications to both business and residential subscribers. ECI’s ADSL2+ based equipment is co-located in the central offices of the incumbent operator, to support residential services. ECI’s outside plant solution is installed within Atlas’s own street cabinets, using VDSL2 line cards, to support business subscribers. In addition, ECI supplied a wide selection of customer premise equipment, to support all applications required by Atlas and its subscribers. The Hi-FOCuS MSAN line – with its high-density shelves, support for any mix of xDSL, fiber and voice, and superior aggregation and subtending capabilities – is well suited for the central office environment, enabling operators like Atlas to support all broadband services over a single infrastructure. The platform offers many benefits for central office-based deployments, including: future-proof support for evolving access technologies, minimal footprint, reduced power consumption, and tools for mass deployment. The Hi-FOCuS MSAN platforms are ideal for outside plant applications as well. As bandwidth requirements have risen, the trend among operators has been to move the equipment delivering traffic over the existing copper infrastructure out of the central office and onto the street, closer to subscribers. This presents a number of challenges, as the equipment must be hardened since it will be subjected to severe environmental conditions, and it must perform like central office–based shelves, with high capacity, scalability, and reliability. The Hi-FOCuS MSAN family satisfies all of these requirements equally well, with a range of shelf and pizza box configurations for outdoor deployments such as Atlas’s. Says Balaci, “With the ECI solution, Atlas was able to turn up a fully functional network in a very short timeframe, allowing our customers to benefit from efficient, resilient voice and data services. As we continue to develop advanced services such as IPTV, we will rely on the very robust and dynamic access infrastructure that ECI provides.”

Further expansion in the works
When asked about plans for future expansion, Balaci responded, “Atlas is planning to cover, in various deployment phases, all the major interconnection facilities we have with the incumbent operator. In an undertaking such as this, we are likely to face a number of heterogeneous challenges and we look forward to partnering with ECI again. ECI’s expertise and differentiated product portfolio will be invaluable to Atlas as we address our complex requirements in a uniform, efficient manner.” ECI is looking forward to collaborating with Atlas again. Said Zvika Weinshtock, Vice President of Marketing for ECI’s Broadband Access Division, “ECI is delighted to be part of Atlas Telecom’s broadband network expansion. Atlas is a modern and innovative operator, deploying cuttingedge technology as it builds its own state-of-the-art network infrastructure.”

About Atlas Telecom Romania
Atlas Telecom Network Romania (www.atlastelecom.ro) is a leading alternative provider of integrated voice and data communications. “Innovation for better communications” is the motto of Atlas Telecom. Present in Romania since 2001, the company offers today advanced fixed telephony and broadband Internet bundled services to residential customers directly through its highcapacity optical fiber national and metropolitan networks. Driving the convergence of voice and data communications with business applications – and distinguished by comprehensive high-quality services – Atlas Telecom helps business customers leverage their existing communication infrastructure to achieve superior business results. The company is part of Atlas Group of Companies (www.atlasgroup.bm), an international corporation with a wide communications services portfolio offered in over 70 countries and ranging from mass-media interactive services and Internet technologies to defense communications solutions.