31 May - 6 June 2001

US company wins Maltacom contract

by David Kelleher

An American company has won a contract to supply Maltacom with its i.Scan system to support DSL technology.
Porta Systems Corporation, which designs and manufactures products for the connection, protection, testing, administration and management of public and private telecommunications lines and networks, said it had won a contract in Malta to supply its i.Scan (Internet Services Coverage Analyser) system to support the pre-qualification of DSL lines for high-speed Internet access within the Maltacom telephone network. The software is due to be installed by the third quarter of 2001.
The i.Scan system, which will overlay Maltacom’s existing Porta Systems LTS 2000 product portfolio, comprises Porta’s MKIII Remote Measurement Test Units located at exchange sites around Malta, together with a fully clustered central site server system which stores the i.Scan application and database.
Speaking to The Malta Business Weekly, Maltacom CEO Stephen Muscat said the reason why the contract was signed was due to the demand for ADSL.
Mr Muscat said that the demand for this system is expected to increase and Maltacom wants to double their capacity by the end of the year. “Obviously this investment will also help us to upgrade our service and also cater for the increase in demand by doubling our capacity.”
Utilising Single End Loop Qualification (SELQ) techniques, i.Scan reduces installation costs and start up time for high-speed Internet access. The system determines which services can provide optimum performance via on-demand testing, as well as network scans during overnight hours.
Maltacom’s contract with Porta Systems for the installation of the i.Scan software is another step towards improving the island’s Internet infrastructure. In recent months Maltacom has been able to offer local and international Integrated Digital Services (ISDN), which allows high-speed access to digital services such as Internet and integrated voice/video/data services. The company says it needs to “align its infrastructure and service portfolio to match the needs of the new society and economy”.