"This is an important step in our company evolution, through which we will become more powerful and more confident to meet the future challenge," said G.URSACHI, the CEO of MoldTelecom, "Huawei is powerful player in CDMA networks and optical transmission. Huawei has also achieved an important deal in the IP area. It will be one of the most important strategic partners of MoldTelecom in the future".
In April 2006, MoldTelecom announced that Huawei would construct its IP/MPLS national backbone, and provide the uniform bearing platform for multiple services such as Internet, enterprise VPN, CDMA data and NGN voice service.
MoldTelecom, a state-controlled full-service telecom operator, was founded in 1993. It provided multiple services such as the fixed-line phone service, CDMA, broadband access, and enterprise leased line access, and had always been a leader in the fixed-line phone field.
Recently, with quick economic recovery of Republic of Moldova, more and more demands for enterprise leased line interconnection and broadband Internet access were raised. Although MoldTelecom had a complete PSTN network, the broadband operation lagged and the charge rate was comparatively high. Therefore, many small-scale Internet Service Providers (ISPs) emerged in Moldova, and they specially provided users with enterprise interconnection and broadband Internet access services, which led to sharp decline of MoldTelecom's share in the broadband market. Facing the market pressure, MoldTelecom urgently needed a more competitive IP network to turn the tide.
In addition, with emergence of new voice services such as VoIP and 3G, the traditional fixed-line phone service confronted with a big challenge and conversation. For a fixed-network operator, evolution and transition from the PSTN to NGN soft switch had become an inevitable development trend. The commercial use and bearing of NGN voice service also drove MoldTelecom to have a high-performance IP backbone network.
As early as 2005, MoldTelecom started to plan and prepare the IP/MPLS backbone construction and made an on-the-spot inspection to multiple equipment suppliers. In the inspection, MoldTelecom focused on the R&D and creative capability, product maturity and advantage of technical solution of the manufacturers. What attracted MoldTelecom most was the successful experience and response capability of a supplier in the telecom field. As a traditional fixed-network operator, MoldTelecom needed successful construction experience to help realize smooth conversation from the network to IP and NGN and satisfy telecom-level operation requirement. In addition, MoldTelecom's region was small, but the network was complex. In this way, the IP network construction should actually combine with the current network and market conditions and require the quick response capability to comprehensive service from a supplier.
"We need a long-term strategic partner with abundant successful experience and quick response capacity," said P.MURA, the CTO of MoldTelecom at the bidding invitation meeting.
The IP/MPLS backbone network construction adopted such devices as Quidway® NetEngine 80E/40E ("NE80E and NE40E") core router, Quidway® S8505 10G Core Routing Switch and Quidway® Eudemon 500 gigabit Firewall. NE80E core routers were deployed in important cities such as Chisinau/Kishinev and Bălţi. Acting as P devices, they were interconnected through the mature 10G RPR ring technology. NE40E core routers and S8505 high-end switches were deployed in each city, and the NE40E acted as a PE device and accessed the adjacent two NE80Es through dual-home. With the RPR technology, the device can effectively guarantee high availability of interconnected core devices, and provide the 50 ms fault switchover for telecom-level services. Meanwhile, it was able to efficiently support the multicast service such as BTV and enhance bandwidth usage. In addition, the excellent expandability helped lower the demand for transmission resources and save investment of MoldTelecom.
With the 10G platform-based devices such as NE80E, NE40E and S8505, MoldTelcom can easily expand the capacity of whole network subsequently by upgrading interfaces and links to satisfy service development demands for a long period in the future. In the mean time, the NE80E and NE40E core router adopt the NP architecture, with which new service can be developed flexibly and conveniently and the usage life of a device can be efficiently prolonged. Additionally, NE80E and NE40E also support multiple telecom-level reliability technologies such as NSF&GR, BFD, IP/LDP FRR and VPN FRR to realize the millisecond-level protection switchover of service. It was very suitable for bearing NGN voice services for MoldTelecom.
It only took two months that all devices had been installed by the end of 2006. Huawei, closely cooperating with MoldTelecom, went through the hard but smooth process. Huawei traced and provided all-round services to device installation, commissioning, planning, acceptance and service switchover, efficiently ensuring smooth progress of IP/MPLS state backbone network construction for MoldTelecom and winning the initiative to occupy the broadband market anew. At present. MoldTelecom has switched over part of services, including Internet, enterprise leased line an NGN voice, and subsequently, it will bear other services such as BTV and CDMA data.
Today MoldTelecom grows fast. However, with quick increase of user scale and service types, it will face more difficulties and challenges. As a long-term strategic partner, Huawei will face the difficulties and meet challenges together with MoldTelecom.
