Gtd Group, one of the main service providers in Chile, has selected Alcatel-Lucent (search for Alcatel-Lucent) to deploy the country's first network based on fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) GPON technology. Installation and deployment of the GPON (search for GPON) network will start in the third quarter of 2008, initially serving residential broadband users in Santiago's prestigious Santa María de Manquehue district, with other neighborhoods of Chile's capital city following shortly thereafter.

Alcatel-Lucent says its equipment will enable Gtd Manquehue, which serves residential customers and small and medium businesses for the Gtd Group, to deliver advanced broadband services such as HDTV, IPTV, video on demand (VoD), and high-speed Internet. Alcatel-Lucent's GPON architecture also will enable Gtd Manquehue to seamlessly migrate its traditional voice services to voice over IP (VoIP), say company representatives.

Gtd Group, one of the main service providers in Chile, has selected Alcatel-Lucent (search for Alcatel-Lucent) to deploy the country's first network based on fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) GPON technology. Installation and deployment of the GPON (search for GPON) network will start in the third quarter of 2008, initially serving residential broadband users in Santiago's prestigious Santa María de Manquehue district, with other neighborhoods of Chile's capital city following shortly thereafter.

Alcatel-Lucent says its equipment will enable Gtd Manquehue, which serves residential customers and small and medium businesses for the Gtd Group, to deliver advanced broadband services such as HDTV, IPTV, video on demand (VoD), and high-speed Internet. Alcatel-Lucent's GPON architecture also will enable Gtd Manquehue to seamlessly migrate its traditional voice services to voice over IP (VoIP), say company representatives.

"We selected GPON technology so we can offer our customers unlimited triple-play and advanced business services backed with a richer quality of experience, which we think will better serve our residential and business customers and give us a competitive advantage in this market," explains Alberto Domínguez, general manager of Gtd Manquehue. "Alcatel-Lucent's worldwide leadership in broadband and their experienced local services teams will help Gtd Manquehue successfully deploy this new fiber infrastructure, the first of its kind in Chile."

"Operators are facing an increasingly competitive environment so the evolution toward fiber is the next logical step they need to take to strengthen their position," adds Victor Agnellini, president of Alcatel-Lucent's activities in the Caribbean and Latin America region. "Alcatel-Lucent has been an important supplier of optical and IP/MPLS solutions to Gtd Group, and we are fully committed to support the evolution of this operator's network as they launch innovative services to their customers."