The Woodcliffe, New Jersey-based Ascom Timeplex subsidiary of Ascom AG of Berne, Switzerland reports that the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago has awarded it a $16m contract to integrate the Federal Reserve’s broadband communications systems to create one US-wide backbone network, Fednet, to enable all the Federal Reserve Banks to handle cheque processing, wire transfer and automated clearing house services for the depository institutions they serve in a more efficient and cost-effective manner, it says.