Ericsson has been awarded a contract by Eesti Telefon to supply the Digital Subscriber Line network for the national Estonian operator, the company announced in a press release. The order is the first announced commercial contract in Europe for Ericsson's Ethernet DSL Access solution that features the world's smallest DSL Access Multiplexer DSLAM.

Ericsson is to provide Eesti Telefon with Asymmetric DSL lines across rural areas in Estonia. Ethernet-based, high-speed internet services will now be available for homes and businesses in rural areas that otherwise would have been too costly to reach.

The network will eventually take over all the voice traffic in rural Estonia. The network is expected to handle voice calls, using Telephony-over-IP technology, by the end of 2003. The ADSL lines will be delivered using Ericsson's new ultra-compact, scalable Ethernet DSL Access solution, a cornerstone of Ericsson's Public Ethernet offering.

The solution enables standard ADSL lines to be offered economically at smaller sites, starting from eight subscribers, and uses Ethernet technology to provide cost-effective high-bandwidth links in the 'second mile' network.

Estonia is experiencing a strong demand for ADSL. In a country with a population of 1.5 million, Eesti Telefon currently has 32,500 DSL lines and expects to have 15,000 new broadband subscribers by the end of 2003. In Estonia, 4.1% of all lines are DSL.

Ericsson has previously supplied most of Eesti Telefon's Gigabit Ethernet based Metropolitan Area Networks in major cities in Estonia as well as their Data Backbone Core Network in the country.

(NewsBase 23.v.03)