Successful Debut on the Telecommunication Market

The National Railway Company "CFR" SA has developed a vast modernization program of the railway infrastructure in Romania, which also aims, besides many other aspects, at the railway IT and telecommunication system. The program stimulates the extension of the fiber optic network on the entire surface of the country, stipulating that up to the year 2005 to sum up almost 7,000 km.
Due to the great importance of the development of the railway telecommunication system from our country, on February 24, within the ceremony for the conferment of the IT&C of Romania for year 2002, under the high patronage of the president of Romania, Mr. Ion Iliescu, and in the presence of the representatives of the IT&C industry, of the national and multinational companies, state owned and private, of the investment funds, the above-mentioned project, financed by the World Bank has been appreciated as

A Title of Glory
OTE International, the sponsor of this important event, is a subsidiary of the Company Hellenic Telecommunications Organization, the main telecommunication operator from Greece, and one of the firsts in Europe. It has been set up in 2000, having as goal the coordination of OTE investments in the southeast of Europe in the Black Sea regions and the ones in the East Mediterranean. With an over two billion investment Euro in this area, OTE International has a powerful presence on in Serbia (Telekom Srbja), Romania (Romtelecom and Cosmorom), Armenia (ArmTel), Albany (AMC), Bulgaria (GloBul), Jordan (Transjordan) and FYROM (MTS).
At this manifestation - where the Railways have been successfully represented by Banc Post and SC Telecomunicatii CFR -, the representative of the most dynamic activity sector of the economy have been rewarded, namely the IT&C industry. Banc Post has gained the title of the Most significant client of the IT&C industry, with the project Taifun and banking Internet network and SC Telecomunicatii CFR has been rewarded for the National project of the year.
The fact that IT&C is the most dynamic activity field from Romania of the XXIst century has made, that, starting with the current year, certain categories for which the last year there have been granted prizes, to be replaced with the project with The best educational content, The most significant client of IT&C industry and the National project of the year.

On the Free Market…
2003 has been declared the year of the market liberalization of the Romanian fixed telephony. Therefore there has appeared the possibility that other companies offer a wide range of telephony services to the population. The third month of liberalization comes with possible new fixed telephony suppliers, among which SC Telecomunicatii CFR SA, the branch of the National Railway Company, which have a solid tradition in the field.
The development strategy of the railway system for the first decade of the IIIrd millennium stipulates the raise of the entire activity of the company to a high level of quality, and also its alignment to the international standards and requirements. Besides the direct railway works, this desideratum also includes the development of the auxiliary activities, as well as the ones of data and voice transmissions.
Modernization projects for the railway telecommunications within those programs, including the extension with 1,000 Km of fiber optic network, aims at achieving the following objectives: the main network of fiber optics cables of CFR, in a 3,530 Km length (finalized on June 2002), and the 1,000 Km extension (having as deadline August 2003); the main network of digital transmission of CFR (DTBN - finalized in the fall of year 2002); the digital telephony network with integrated serviced of CFR (ISDN).
The project for the extension of the fiber optics transmission structures developed by CFR SA is the materialization of the company's and MLPTL's desire to offer to the clients the above mentioned services.
In the conditions in which the attention of CFR is permanently headed to offering services of a high quality to the railway operators, the implementation and extension project for the fiber optics is as natural as possible.
The achievement of this program will allow, besides the provision of the needs of the railway system, and the valuation on the liberalized market of telecommunications of the capacity surplus and the potential offered by the fact that this modernized network of CFR has national coverage, being the second as size after the one owned by Romtelecom. An additional reason for S.C. Telecomunicatii CFR to intensify, since the last year yet, the preparations necessary for entering on the "new' market. All the measures taken have aimed at offering a high quality level and accessible price, without interfering in the activity specific to the railway transport.

Actuality and Perspective
The modernization program of the telecommunication network of CFR is based on the studies elaborated by specialized institutes from the country (ISPCF SA) and from abroad (TERA, from USA, based on a contract financed by TDA-USA), noticed by CTE - SNCFR, CTE-MT, the Inter-ministerial Council, the Ministry of Communications, MapN., M.I. and SRI and accepted by the financing body (BIRD). It is unfolded based on certain financed documentation, on one side, by - BIRD - by the loan guaranteed by the Romanian Government, for the acquisition of components, equipment, materials and measuring devices, as well as for the training services and technical assistance -, and on another side by the Ministry of Transports and CNCF "CFR" SA - for the payment of the design works, assembling-construction and other taxes stipulated by law (GD no. 546 from 28.08.1998 and GD no. 878 from 06.9.2001).
The cost of the modernization projects for the railway telecommunications is estimated to 120 million USD.
The success of this program will be materialized in the provision of high quality railway telecommunication services in over 550 railway stations and in the main administrative center on CFR network, as well as the creation of a safe and modern transmission support for the following applications, as: the integrated IT system of CFR (IRIS), the tickets booking system and ticketing, the automation and IT implementation in the railway traffic dispatchers, remote controls and video-controls for the contact line equipment, interlocking, the valuation on the liberalized telecommunications of the surplus capacity and the potential offered by the national covering of the telecommunication network of CFR.
Other components of the modernization program are the implementation of a new European railway system of the radio-communications ground-train, GSM-R, recommended by UIC, and the integral modernization of the telecommunications equipment, for the notification of the passengers and the traffic safety on the Corridor IV, where the rehabilitation and the modernization works at the railway infrastructure have been already started off. By all means, the action will also continue on other main railway sections
There should be also mentioned the fact that SC Telecomunicatii CFR has achieved with its own personnel all the design, assembling, cabling, testing commissioning and exploitation works for the digital equipment purchased within the railway modernization projects. "SC Telecomunicatii CFR has achieved with its own personnel all the works necessary for the modernization of the network. In order to reach this goal, CFR has started off the re-qualification process of an important part of the labor force, in order to train the personnel from the technical field, as well as in the commercial field", Mr. Mihai Necolaiciuc, the general director of CFR SA has appreciated.
The personnel that have been selected have been sent to training courses, held by specialists of the digital equipment producers. Therefore, the company presently has well-trained technical personnel, who can achieve the telecommunications assembling works and also putting into operation of the over 1,000 digital equipment simultaneously on the eight telecommunication zones. The junction works and fiber optics cable measuring have been also performed on all the length of 3,530 km only with specialized personnel.

A promising start
SC Telecomunicatii CFR has received from the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology the operation authorization for an independent telecommunication network meant for a closed group of users - railway trade undertakings, railway transport operators -, and from the General Inspectorate of Communications and Information Technology has received the technical authorization for operation for an independent telecommunication network at national level.
Starting with February, the big and middle stations have available the services of fixed telephony accessible to any physical person, based on the pre-paid cards. Presently, there are arranged in these stations centers -Internet cafe type for the passengers transiting the railway station, as well as for the physical persons who live nearby the railway station, at accessible prices according to the buying power of the population.
Shortly, there will be taken a decision with regard to the extension of the capacity of the digital telephonic cards from the railway communications centers for the voice and data services meant for the physical persons, according to the evolution of the inter-connections with the telecommunications operators from Romania and of the possibility of achieving, in collaboration with strategic operators, of certain local loops.

Projects in development stage
· The main network of cables with 20 mono-mode fiber optics (supplier, SIEMENS A.G.) - has a 4,530 km and provides the inter-connection between the services from the CFR Palace building, all regional headquarters and the main railway stations. There have been finalized the assembling works of 3,530 Km of FO cable, there have been assembled and put into operation the ATM equipment necessary for the achievement of the IRIS pilot test during last year.
· The main network of digital transmissions of CFR (DTBN = SDH + ACCES), structured on five rings and six main ramifications, with 3,530 km. Through its extension with 1,000 Km more there will be closed three rings: Timisoara - Caransebes - Drobeta-Turnu Severin - Filiasi; Titu - Targoviste - Ploiesti and Satu Mare - Oradea.
· The digital network providing integrated digital services (ISDN and ATM) - which main goal has been the replacement of the automatic telephony station from the railway network through the achievement of modern networks, with integrated services for voice, data and images transmission. Pursuant to the auction, the winning company of this module within the project called the Modernization of the CFR telecommunications is Alcatel, from France.
The ISDN network includes 224 local stations with digital commutation, with 40 inter-station commutation knots, one knot for international commutation, nine centers of network management and data commuters ATM type. There will be achieved several types of services: voice (automatic digital telephony, voice-mail, video-conference), for data transmission, video (video-telephony and video-conference), with an added value (Internet, electronic commerce, electronic mail) and some special one, for the railway exploitation.
The current year, the extension with 1,000 Km of the main section of fiber optics cables will be achieved on the following railway sections: Cluj-Napoca - Oradea - Episcopia Bihor; Timisoara - Caransebes - Resita; Razboieni - Targu Mures; Filiasi - Drobeta-Turnu Severin - Caransebes; Titu - Targoviste - Ploiesti; Craiova - Slatina; Satu Mare - Oradea; Sibiu - Rm. Valcea. This supplementation project is part of the program called the Strategy for the development of the railway system from Romania during 2001-2010.

Period 2001 - 2005
In order to provide safe and modern telecommunication services for CFR and to enter the national telecommunications market for a more efficient valuation, in competition conditions, of the assembled spare capacity, the feasibility studies and the present situation indicates the opportunity of achieving the following works:
I) The extension of the fiber optics cable network equipped with digital transmission on almost 1,800 Km in the following three years. The justification of this projects derives from the necessity of shutting down certain operational rings in order to increase the protection degree of the network, for the inter-connection of the rest of the of main railway knots and of all the district residences. And also the necessity of replacing the air routes of telecommunications on the main and secondary railway sections which can be maintained in operation due to the stealing of the cooper and steel circuits and of their advanced wear. Therefore, in correlation with the GD no. 1003/2003, the main network with fiber optics cable will be extended on several sections: Sibiu - Ramnicu Valcea - Piatra Olt - Pitesti, Bacau - Piatra Neamt - Bicaz, Veresti - Botosani, Craiova - Calafat, Satu Mare - Oradea - Arad, Rosiori - Alexandria, Medgidia - Tulcea, Sfantu Gheorghe - Deda - Targu Mures, Adjud - Ciceu, Caracal - Piatra Olt, Beclean pe Somes - Bistrita, Jimbou - Zalau, Bucharest - Chitila (operational spare part) and on Ploiesti Vest - Ploiesti Sud (operational spare part);
II) The introduction of the radio communication train-ground of GSM type, according to the UIC directives for the aligning to the EU provisions for the pan-European Corridor IV (Curtici - Brasov - Bucharest - Constanta);
III) The modernization of the telecommunication equipment meant for the safety train traffic in the railway stations, in the headquarters of RCF and RCM;
IV) The collaboration with other telecommunication operators in order to take photos and to commonly exploit new sections of fiber optics cables on the traffic sections which are not equipped, in order to reduce the financial effort of CFR, without affecting the interest of the company on the telecommunication market.
V) According to the specialists, the development strategy of the telecommunication sector of CFR aims at achieving the following objectives:
- the provision of all communication systems necessary to a modern railway infrastructure;
- the provision of the data transmission support at the speed, quality and at the points required by the IT systems implementation which are going to be introduced on the railway network;
- the provision of the transmission support for an entire series of programs: of automation and IT of the traffic railway dispatchers and the energetic ones, for the identification of the wagons, for the modernization of the telecommunication network of CFR with the ones of the neighbor railway administrations at the level, quality and volume of services recommended by UIC, in order to achieve an integrated European network, for the valuation on the telecommunication market of the capacity surplus and of the potential offered by the main network of fiber optics cables with national covering of CFR, which represents an important source of incomes providing the reimbursement on a short term of the costs.
- The extension of the services aria - interactive (chat, messages, searching information) and distributive (videotext, video-graphics, Radio TV, cable);
- the joint to the set of standardized information at the European level (respectively, UIC - for the railways), by strictly respecting the recommendations of ITU and ETSI regarding the parameters of the telecommunication equipment;
- the inter-connection of the telecommunication network of CFR with the one of Romtelecom and of other operators of GSM mobile telephony or with the Internet ones;
- the maintenance of the subscribers from the railway area, the attraction of new clients and the extension of this category of services and by other exterior units, as: MapN, MI, MF, public administration, banking networks, institutions which in the future will need their own data transmission network and, by all means, other telecommunication operators.
"This extension project of the transmission structure through fiber optics is meeting the desire of MLPTL to offer to the citizens services of a high technical quality, in decent conditions of fares. The measures taken by the company in this field also contributes to the improvement of the transport quality, to the improvement of the transport quality, to the provision of the punctuality and of the safety traffic", Mr. Miron Mitrea , the minister of Transports has expressed his opinion.
The trumps of SC Telecomunicatii CFR are conferred by the rigorous structure of the fiber optics cable network, by a big capacity of the transmission equipment, by the security conferred through the ring structure, by the existence of a synchronization network strategically located in GPS system. All the equipments are achieved by the well-known producers in the telecommunications filed: Siemens - for the fiber optics cables, synchronic and access transmission equipment, Alcatel - for the digital telephony stations and non-synchronic stations, Picturetel - for the video-conference equipment.
Finally, there should be mentioned the fact that CNCF "CFR"SA has until now its own operational video-conference network, which inter-connects the headquarters of all the rail regions; at the end of the last year, on the same network there has been also interconnected the conference room situated at the railway campus in Snagov.

Oana Branzan