ISLAMABAD, Oct 26: A contract was signed here between the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited and ZhongXing Telecom Pakistan (pvt) Ltd (ZTE), for implementation of Optical Fibre Access Network for 17,600 lines and 2.5 GB SDH Junction Transport Network for Islamabad/ Rawalpindi metropolitan area and for 20,000 lines and 2.5/10 GB SDH Junction Transport Network for Lahore metropolitan.

According to a PTCL statement the project of Optical Fibre Access Network (OFAN) in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi has been conceived to fibrize the last mile solution of PTCL network according to prevailing telecommunication requirements set by ITUT and competitive telecom environment.

It is the intention of the PTCL management to progressively deploy Optical Access Network for the delivery of narrowband and broadband telecommunication services to its customers, initially in major cities.

The objective of the PTCL is two-fold: firstly, to introduce fibre optic cabling nearer to the subscriber, initially up to the curb (FTTC)/or the multistory building (FTTB), and thereby create the necessary infrastructure for the future broadband services; and secondly, to provide the latest and the state of the art services to its customers.

The real strength of Optical Access Network is ready for emerging broadband services such as multimedia and fast Internet access and other new and rapidly growing interactive data communication services.

The following services will be provided via Optical Fibre Access: Plots (plain old telephone services), Cable TV, ISDV BRA, ISDN PRA Data and DSL services.