Eircom has completed an upgrade of the ESB's IT network giving the public utility a fully digital internet protocol (IP) platform.

The upgrade is part of a multi-million euro five-year contract between the two companies and means Eircom now provides all data communication services to the Electricity Supply Board (ESB).

The development involved more than 90 ESB offices and sites across Ireland, and the new network handles and prioritises all data communications for the ESB's wide area network (WAN).

"Eircom is delighted with the addition of ESB to our growing list of customers who have chosen our state-of-the-art IP network platform. Eircom was selected following a competitive European tender and the decision underlines the scale and scope that eircom offers customers who are considering upgrades to their networks," Eircom enterprise markets director Ray Nulty said.

"Initially, we looked at the network as a cost driver, however, we like to be deep into the technology. We want to talk to the people who are building and supporting the network, and we find it's easy to get that kind of access with Eircom. We feel that our input is heard," ESB technical services manager Tony Keane said.

"Eircom's dedicated laboratory environment was very helpful in terms of making our choice. We saw that Eircom's MPLS [Multi-protocol Label Switching] solution could deliver what we wanted in terms of guaranteeing application bandwidth, satisfying latency requirements, and allowing prioritisation of one traffic flow over another during conditions of network congestion," he said.

Copyright © 2006, ENN

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