SBC Communications Inc. will use optical equipment from Nortel to deliver gigabit Ethernet and other services to business customers throughout its 13-state region.
SBC Services, an SBC affiliate, will buy Nortel’s OPTera Metro 5100 Multiservice Platform, amending an agreement inked last year to use similar Nortel technology, the OPTera Metro 5200. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
The new platform will allow SBC to extend beyond the large business market and serve medium-sized enterprises, according to Brian McFadden, Nortel’s president of optical networks. An SBC spokeswoman says the platform proves key in allowing the phone giant to introduce new services, such as gigabit Ethernet and improved storage capabilities, beginning in the second and third quarter of 2003.
