(TECH) Bezeq, NSN Team Up For Faster Internet

"Bezeq Israel Telecom and telecom equipment maker Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) are launching a technology to double the internet speed of traditional copper networks, the companies said.

The technology, known as bonding, will enable Bezeq to offer speeds of as much as 200 megabits per second to residential clients who, unlike businesses, generally do not have access to faster fiber optic networks.



'We are cooperating with Nokia Siemens Networks to improve our copper network,' Bezeq Vice President of Engineering Yuval Keinan told a news conference. 'We want to be ready when Google TV and Apple TV are available,' he said, referring to internet TV projects that will require much higher bandwidth.

Bezeq, Israel's largest telecoms group, declined to disclose how much it invested in this technology, which twists two more copper wires into the existing bundle. Analyst Gilad Alper of brokerage Meitav said the technology will help Bezeq compete with state-owned Israel Electric Corp, which plans to build a high-speed fiber optic network.

'The significance is clear -- the potential competition from Israel Electric's fiber optic network is pushing Bezeq to make additional investments,' Alper said. Bezeq is deploying its next generation network (NGN) offering speeds of up to 100 megabits per second. It plans to launch 200 megabits per second next year using Nokia Siemens' Very High Speed DSL technology.

It has deployed 55 percent of the NGN and expects to reach 90 percent by 2011. Bezeq, which was once a monopoly, also faces competition from cable company HOT in offering high speed Internet.

Giuseppe Donagemma, head of the west and south Europe region of Nokia Siemens, said Bezeq was the first to launch this technology. 'The entire world has an enormous bandwidth hunger,' he told a Bezeq technology conference." (source)