[21 MAY 99] MARCONI
COMMUNICATIONS PRESS RELEASE
Telewest Triumph For MarconiA prestigious
contract to boost the efficiency and performance of the Telewest telecommunications
network, while also creating new services for its customers, has been won by
Coventry-based Marconi Communications against fierce international competition.
In a deal topping £5m, Marconi is to supply a range of
equipment to enable Telewest to save costs, boost its international call handling and
upgrade its network management, billing and call statistic capability.
"This contract was a hard-fought battle in which
Marconi triumphed not only on price, but with the functionality of our products and our
ability to deliver to extremely tight timescales," said Coventry-based managing
director, sales, Rod Smith.
The contract sees Marconi supplying four System X digital
telephone exchanges to provide Telewest with direct international gateways and also
equipment for a range of customer applications and services. The exchanges will be located
at Telewest's Glasgow, South London, Birmingham and Yorkshire franchises.
Howard Watson, managing director of Telewest's network
services, said:
"The development of our Transit Network via the System
X combined Transit and International Switches provides a level of flexibility that
increases our operating efficiency and provides many new and enhanced services to
customers."
The configuration of the System Xs will allow a range of
services to be offered directly across the UK. In the Phase One launch these include:
- Number Translation - freephone, split charge and premium
rate numbers, as well as indirect access to the Telewest network.
- Investigator - providing call traffic reports for freephone,
split charge and premium rate numbers. The information available to business customers
includes the number of calls receiving an engaged tone, or not answered.
- Enhancer - allowing Telewest to manage and amend customer
announcements on the network.
- Service Management Platform (SMP) - integrating Telewest's
billing, customer care systems, fault monitoring and databases with the features of the
Intelligent Network.
Marconi Communications is a world leader in smart broadband
transmission, access equipment and network integration. It has sales to more than 140
countries, a major presence in the United Kingdom, the USA, Italy and South Africa and is
wholly owned by GEC, a global manufacturer of intelligent electronic systems.
NOTES
Telewest Communications plc is Britain's largest broadband
cable operator, currently delivering multi-channel television, telephone and Internet
services to more than 1.4 million UK households; and voice and data telecommunications
services to over 40,000 business customers. Over four million homes can now access
Telewest's broadband services. At December 31, 1998, Telewest had an equity interest in
999,162 cable television subscribers, 1,260,922 residential telephone customers and 43,980
business customers. Over half of Telewest's 1.4 million residential customers subscribe to
two or more of its services.
MORE INFORMATION:
Marconi
Communications Press Office 0115 906 4687
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