Alcatel-Lucent and Etisalat make the first 4G LTE mobile broadband connection in the United Arab Emirates using lightRadio™
Companies mark a crucial milestone in the move toward the commercial introduction of lightRadio to address the exploding demand for high-speed mobile data services
Barcelona, February 29, 2012 – Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU), together with Etisalat, the leading mobile telecommunications operator in the United Arab Emirates, have successfully completed a technology trial with the groundbreaking lightRadio™ portfolio highlighting how it can meet fast-growing customer demand for high-bandwidth mobile broadband services.
This is the first mobile broadband connection made in the United Arab Emirates made possible by Alcatel-Lucent’s lightRadio architecture over a working 4G LTE network.
Alcatel-Lucent showcased the capabilities of its new lightRadio Metro Radio Outdoor (MRO) product at Etisalat’s headquarters in Abu Dhabi, making the lightning-fast data connection over Etisalat’s commercial 4G LTE network, also powered by Alcatel-Lucent. This new offering is part of Alcatel-Lucent’s market-leading lightRadio Small Cells product family, and based on the lightRadio cube. It extends a service provider’s LTE network to provide hot-spot coverage in densely populated areas such as shopping malls, airports, and sports stadiums.
In the United Arab Emirates, demand for high-speed connections to mobile broadband services such as videoconferencing and on-demand TV has been driven by the mass take-up of smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices. In October 2011 Alcatel-Lucent and Etisalat signed an agreement to jointly develop the most sustainable and efficient way to meet this demand using the groundbreaking lightRadio portfolio. This successful trial of the latest technology marks a major milestone in turning that promise into a reality.
Tests conducted prior to the successful trial showed that service providers deploying the MRO in their LTE network could see improvements in capacity and performance that would allow them to realise cost savings of up to 40% while delivering high-quality, lightning-fast 4G LTE data services to subscribers.
H.E. Ahmad Abdul Karim Julfar, Etisalat Group Chief Executive Officer said: “Etisalat is proud to be part of this program, helping to shape the future of mobile broadband networks to satisfy our customers’ growing demand. With lightRadio we will not only be able to accommodate this growth in traffic, but we will also be able to offer our customers the most innovative solutions so they can easily access the latest and greatest mobile data applications on their mobile device of choice.”
Stephen Carter, President, Europe, Middle East & Africa, Alcatel-Lucent said: “We are happy to have the opportunity to work with Etisalat to leverage lightRadio to address their business needs. The work completed as part of this successful project has yielded valuable data about how service providers such as Etisalat can very easily deploy Alcatel-Lucent’s metrocells to transform the mobile broadband experience for their customers, while at the same time reducing their power consumption, costs and equipment footprint.”
The successful mobile data connection was made using Alcatel-Lucent’s new 9768 lightRadio Metro Radio Outdoor (MRO) product based on the lightRadio cube. Visit our website to find out more about Alcatel-Lucent’slightRadiosolution.
About Etisalat
Headquartered in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, Etisalat is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the Middle East, operating in 18 countries and serving over 140 million subscribers through mobile and fixed line voice and data services.
About Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU)
The long-trusted partner of service providers, enterprises and governments around the world, Alcatel-Lucent is a leading innovator in the field of networking and communications technology, products and services. The company is home to Bell Labs, one of the world’s foremost R&D organizations, responsible for breakthroughs that have shaped the networking and communications industry. Alcatel-Lucent is committed to making communications more sustainable, more affordable and more accessible as we pursue our mission – Realizing the Potential of a Connected World.
With operations in more than 130 countries and one of the most experienced global services organizations in the industry, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with global reach. The Company achieved revenues of Euro 15.3 billion in 2011 and is incorporated in France and headquartered in Paris.
For more information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com, read the latest posts on the Alcatel-Lucent blog http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/blog and follow the Company on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Alcatel_Lucent.
Contact the Alcatel-Lucent Press Office: press@alcatel-lucent.com
