Telecom NZ legacy CDMA network failed again
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A day after the announcement of NZ$5 million ($3.44 million) compensation package for customers affected by a prolonged network outage of 3G network, Telecom New Zealand’s legacy CDMA network again failed.
Currently, TNZ is reeling in the wake of the failure of its high-profile W-CDMA 850 service XT. Late last week, around 32 base stations on the Alcatel-Lucent built network went down.
This is the second outage of the Alcatel-Lucent supplied 3G network south of Taupo; in mid-December, the network also went down.
Meanwhile, rival TelstraClear launched its 3G service, which piggy backs of Vodafone’s WCDMA network, for business customers amid Telecom’s XT network woes.
Alca- Lu top contender for Bharti €715m outsource tender
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Bharti Airtel’s latest fibre cable network outsourcing contract covering 12,000 kilometers of its inter-city optical fiber network has attracted many bidders among which Alcatel-Lucent seems to be the front runner. The contract is estimated at more than $1 billion (€715.8 million) over five years.
Bharti and Alcatel-Lucent already has 26:74 joint ventures which began in April last year to let Alcatel-Lucent manage its landline and broadband business in 100 cities.
The five-year contract involves Bharti paying the joint venture $500 million.
Togo set to get its first 3G network (Africa)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Togo Cellulaire, the leading mobile operator in South African country of Togo is set to provide the country with its first wireless 3G network by contracting Alcatel-Lucent for 22 million euro to extend its network capacity in GSM and build the first 3G wireless broadband network.
Advanced mobile broadband services to over 2.2 million subscribers and businesses throughout the country would be offered by Togo through this new network. The service may start by the end of the year.
An end-to-end turnkey solution will also build by Alcatel-Lucent, including a converged radio access network portfolio to support both 2G- and 3G-based services.
Alcatel-Lucent to expand MobiCom 3G reach
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: MobiCom, Mongolia’s largest mobile operators by subscribers, has selected Alcatel-Lucent to deploy an UMTS/HSPA network to expand the telco’s existing 3G infrastructure and coverage.
An advanced converged radio access network (RAN) portfolio will be provided by the French vendor to sustain the rapid increase of voice and data traffic and to enable a smooth transition to Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology.
3G base stations (eNode Bs), radio network controller, network management system and critical professional services including network installation and testing are also included in the service. According to B. Gansukh, CTO of MobiCom, Alcatel-Lucent’s converged solutions and professional services offer unmatched performance and advanced features, making it the ideal choice as we transform our network to roll out next generation services.
Omantel’s NGN contract awarded to Huawei
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Huawei, a Chinese equipment vendor has been awarded an OMR10 million (USD25.9 million) contract by Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel) to expand the incumbent fixed line operator’s next generation network (NGN).
Huawei superseded US equipment maker Cisco Systems, French company Alcatel-Lucent and Swedish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia to break the deal.
Alcatel-Lucent selected by Etisalat to accelerate FTTH rollout
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Under the multi-million euro deal, UAE-based telecoms operator Etisalat selected Alcatel-Lucent to speed up the deployment of its nationwide fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network. French vendor’s gigabit passive optical network (GPON) technology will be utilized by Etisalat to connect 50,000 households and business customers to the ‘eLife’ network.
Through this platform both residential and business customers would be provided by Etisalat with simultaneous access to several high-definition (HD) TV channels, a video-on-demand (VoD) library and broadband internet.
According to Essa Al Haddad, chief marketing officer at Etisalat UAE, Etisalat’s FTTH rollout in the UAE positions Abu Dhabi to become the first capital city in the world with 100% fibre deployment by the end of this year. UAE will be one of the first countries in the world to have nationwide fibre-optics coverage by 2011.
Telekom Srpske to receive converged backbone solution from Alca-Lu
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: French-US vendor Alcatel-Lucent and Bosnia’s Telekom Srpske signed a deal to consolidate the telco’s IP and optical networks into a leveraged IP network infrastructure. According to Predrag Culibrk, Telekom Srpske’s general manager, the deal will enable the company to provide its business and residential customers a wide range of beneficial, easy-to-use broadband services.
Converged Backbone Transformation solution which more tightly integrates IP and optical transport resources will be provided by Alca-Lu enabling service providers to optimise and leverage their transport networks to deal with the growing demand for bandwidth.
The solution will not only allow for a reduction of the number of required network elements, but will also improve efficiencies in power and rack space, simplify network provisioning and fault management, minimise latency, and enhance reliability.
Skylink finally outlines GSM launch
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: SkyLink, a Russian cellco, which previously operated exclusively across CDMA-based networks, finally outlined its plans to deploy the 2G standard. The decision is taken after more than two years when the company secured licences allowing it to roll out GSM-based networks.
Even after winning concessions covering 45 of Russia’s 83 regions in late-2007, the company is yet to deploy GSM in these areas. This had risked the company of losing its license after the country’s communications watchdog claimed that it has failed to fulfill its license conditions.
Alcatel-Lucent and Huawei Technologies have been hired by Skyline to provide equipment and services for the rollout, giving the company some chance of achieving its target of installing GSM networks across most of Russia’s regions by 2011.
According to SkyLink deputy CEO, Yuri Khromov, the partnership with Huawei and Alcatel-Lucent is done to ensure that the new GSM base stations can easily be upgraded to 4G technology, in preparation for the time when Russia’s Communications Ministry gives approval for the next evolution of mobile broadband technology.
Zong, Alcatel-Lucent and RIM join hands to provide Blackberry solution in Pakistan
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Zong, the first international brand of China Mobile, launched its Blackberry solution in Pakistan, in partnership with Alcatel-Lucent and Research In Motion (RIM). By using the Blackberry smartphones; wireless sending and receiving of emails, making phone calls, browsing Internet, sending text messages and accessing a wide range of corporate and lifestyle applications while on the move will become possible for the users.
BlackBerry Curve 8900 and BlackBerry Bold smartphones and a choice of BlackBerry Internet Service or BlackBerry Enterprise Server will be offered by Zong initially. ZONG’s postpaid packages will immediately provide the solution besides it will also provide a range of monthly packages tailored to meet customers’ needs.
According to Salman Wassay, Head of Marketing, ZONG, in order to have remote access to their email and calendar information, there was a huge demand for the solution by the subscribers in both the enterprise and consumer markets. BlackBerry Enterprise Server has been offered to corporate clients while individuals and smaller businesses are offered BlackBerry Internet Service.
Alacatel-Lucent to provide BSS solution to Morocco’s Maroc Telecom
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Maroc Telecom, a global fixed, mobile and internet telecommunication operator in the Kingdom of Morocco, has chosen Alcatel-Lucent as its billing and customer care system integrator. As per the deal, Alcatel-Lucent will evolve Maroc’s mobile billing platforms towards a new fully converged and integrated version.
Alacatel-Lucent’s solution that combines customer care, rating and billing and network integration services will help Maroc to offer flexible, high-quality, value-added services to its mobile customers. Through this contract, Alcatel-Lucent has confirmed its leadership in business support system (BSS) solutions, including software and integration services.
According to Abdel Mounim Ghetreff, Head of Alcatel-Lucent’s business in Morocco, the deal establish relationship between Alcatel-Lucent and Maroc Telecom and will enable Maroc Telecom to propose more personalized billing and support services to its customers. It will also improve revenue collection and leakage prevention.
