Smart Telecom signs for next-generation network

June 30, 2008 - Irish telecoms provider Smart Telecom has signed a "multi-million Euro" deal with local firm ESB Telecoms for the provision of a high-capacity 10Gbps broadband infrastructure across two national fibre rings that will cover the whole country and enable the launch of high-capacity residential and business services including IPTV.

ESB Telecoms is a provider of wholesale telecoms services, and operates a 1,300km nationwide fibre-optic network, as well as 14 Points of Presence and more than 300 radio sites.  Smart Telecom is expected to target up to 1.5mn customers with the new services.

The telco recently revealed that it was investing €2.5mn in a new MPEG-4 headend and middleware solution from French firm Thomson.  The forthcoming IPTV service is expected to offer over 100 TV and radio channels and include features such as time shifting and the display of incoming telephone calls on the TV set.