Air Berlin Chooses ADC KRONE's Future-Proof 10GBase-T Copper Infrastructure Solution

MINNEAPOLIS, MN

Posted on: Oct 26, 2006

MINNEAPOLIS, Oct 26, 2006 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- ADC (NASDAQ:ADCT), a leader in communications network infrastructure solutions, today announced that Air Berlin has expanded its Berlin headquarters network using ADC's market-leading CopperTen(TM) cabling solutions. By deploying these solutions, Air Berlin has laid the foundation for its future expansion: CopperTen is one of the first systems designed to transfer data up to 10 GBit/s over copper cabling, with scalability that supports future network requirements.

The new cabling installation in the Air Berlin headquarters has been deployed by WTG Berlin, an ADC-certified telecommunications service provider. Since the start of the implementation in 2005, WTG Berlin has installed approximately 5,500 new connections in the data center and offices. The firm also has replaced some of the older cabling. Overall, WTG Berlin has laid approximately 220 km (140 miles) of Cat7 cable, designed for a frequency of up to 600 MHz. In addition, today there are 230 KM8-coupler panels, each with 24 ports in operation.

"The CopperTen solutions from ADC fulfilled our high quality requirements for a copper-based 10 Gigabit Ethernet infrastructure for our headquarters," said Andre Hanisch, head of network administration at Air Berlin. "In the data center and office cabling, we wanted to make no compromises. What counted was guaranteed high bandwidth, speed and reliability. ADC has more than fulfilled our expectations. For that reason, we have decided to expand our ADC solutions to other Air Berlin locations such as Palma de Mallorca."

CopperTen, a member of the TrueNet(R) product family, is based on Ethernet standard IEEE 802.3af/n for 10 GBit/s over copper cable, and offers Air Berlin important investment security. The airline is also using components of the ADC KM8-RJ45 product family, providing an excellent platform for the realization of a 10-Gig channel. The transfer parameters of all the products were optimized during production using laser trimming, and offer the largest capacity reserve of all the RJ45 components on the market. The ADC CopperTen System was tested in conjunction with CAT7-S-STP cable and KM8-patch cords from ADC in the "4 Connector Channel" test and maintains all the parameters with comforting headroom.

This is no accident: ADC has its products tested according to the high standards of the PREMIUM Verification Program (PVP). Here, independent test labs make spot checks during series production as to whether the ADC cabling components fulfill the national and international norm requirements. These spot checks ensure that the products of ADC fulfill the high quality requirements they themselves set. This is certified continually by GHMT AG with the PREMIUM certificate - a test report according to the European Norm EN 17025.

A decisive factor in the selection of ADC as supplier for this ambitious project, in addition to the outstanding technical attributes of the individual products, was that ADC could supply all the necessary components from one source.

"We are very happy that a forward-looking company like Air Berlin decided on our innovative infrastructure solutions and has successfully implemented them," said Axel Kahsnitz, vice president of ADC and regional director for EMEA. "Companies are now placing increasing emphasis on the guaranteed future of their systems. With CopperTen, we can offer our customers a solution that is not only easy to install but cost-effective, too. CopperTen is a future-proof alternative to fiber cabling systems."

About Air Berlin

Air Berlin is Germany's second-largest airline. In 2005, the company transported 13.5 million passengers. Air Berlin has a fleet of 62 aircraft and employs more than 2,800 people. Air Berlin flies to the most popular holiday destinations on the Mediterranean coast, in the Canary Islands and in North Africa as well as major European cities. According to a survey carried out by London consultants Skytrax, Air Berlin is the best low-cost carrier in the world. More than 13 million passengers from 94 countries took part in this survey worldwide - business travellers as well as holiday-makers.

About ADC

ADC provides the connections for wireline, wireless, cable, broadcast, and enterprise networks around the world. ADC's innovative network infrastructure equipment and professional services enable high-speed Internet, data, video, and voice services to residential, business and mobile subscribers. ADC (NASDAQ:ADCT) has sales into more than 140 countries.