Proximus and Italtel have created a joint project team responsible for Switching Outphasing (SO) as Belgium’s largest fixed and mobile services operator moves to an All IP Program

Italtel, a leading company in Next Generation Networks, Value Added Services and global IP-IP communication, today announced it has been selected by Proximus to decommission its legacy fixed switched network and migrate it to a next generation network.

The project assigned to Italtel will be completed in the next four years and is a subproject in Proximus’ overall legacy consolidation effort called Mantra.

A number of advantages will be achieved by the decommissioning of Proximus’ legacy network, including reduced operating costs and increased reliability in terms of operations and network management. At the same time, the new all-digital network will allow Proximus to meet its customers’ ever-changing needs by offering even more digital and high-value services which could not be delivered on the legacy network.

Johan Luystermans, Director Network Engineering and Operations at Proximus, said: “Mantra is among Proximus’ most important projects for the coming years. It will put Proximus in a more cost effective position by consolidating all legacy technologies and moving towards a network solely based on fiber, VDSL and wireless technologies with only very few technical buildings left.”

The Proximus Mantra Program was launched at the end of 2013. A joint Proximus and Italtel team is currently deploying the migration of the Proximus product portfolio on the new IP based infrastructure, in order to phase out the legacy network technologies and optimize the network infrastructure.

“By launching its Mantra decommissioning project, Proximus has confirmed its place among the most innovative service providers in Europe and Italtel is proud to be at its side,” said Stefano Pileri, CEO at Italtel. “Assigning this important program to Italtel confirms our position as a specialist in the evolution of traditional networks into next generation networks for the provision of new levels of service. Over the years we have built a solid collaboration with Proximus. The key factors that allowed us to win this tender are a solid competence gained through significant international projects, vast cross-technology know-how and a skilled team of experts.”