Berlin, 18 January 2010

NextiraOne, Europe’s leading expert in communications services, will play a major role in the implementation of a new telecommunications infrastructure for the Federal State of Lower Saxony, Germany. NextiraOne Germany was selected by nordcom Niedersachsen GmbH (a 100% subsidiary of EWE TEL GmbH, created to deliver the contract) to build, operate and service the voice solutions and the network infrastructure for the 2,150 locations in Lower Saxony. The project forms part of the implementation of the state-wide communications network – the “Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen) Next Generation Network” (NI-NGN) with a total value of some €164 million. The contract between EWE TEL and the State of Lower Saxony is for six years with two further options of two-year extensions.

The aim of the project is to modernise the entire telecommunications infrastructure of the State of Lower Saxony government offices. It will support improvements in the accessibility of Government offices for citizens and the general public and help provide modern services. It is the first time on such a state-wide scale that voice and data communications will be brought together in a single, highly secure solution that will also allow the future rollout of innovative technologies such as video communication.

NextiraOne Experts will connect and service the sites, around 75,000 users and the central PBX system. When fully implemented, all employees - including police, government, judiciary and tax administrations - will be able to communicate using Voice over IP (VoIP) technology, at the same time continuing to use their existing functionality.

Each member of the government staff will receive a multi-functional workstation consisting of a high-speed data connection (LAN), telephone and, where appropriate, a mobile device. Using a single, price-per-port model for all hardware and a Managed Services contract for fixed and mobile calls within Germany, the Lower Saxony state administration will be able to maintain a clear view of their operational costs.

"This project clearly demonstrates NextiraOne’s leading position in the communications services market,” said Dr. Margarete Schramböck, CEO of NextiraOne Germany. “Our expertise and scale makes us an ideal partner for the deployment of reliable Unified Communications solutions that bring real efficiency gains."