Alcatel-Lucent and Etisalat to transform efficiency of delivering mobile broadband services in United Arab Emirates with lightRadio™ collaboration

 Major Middle East operator joins Alcatel-Lucent’s program to introduce lightRadio and define smarter, greener, more cost-effective means to satisfy growing global demand for mobile Internet services

 Dubai, Paris – October 17, 2011 – Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) and Etisalat, the leading mobile telecommunications operator in the United Arab Emirates, have today signed an agreement to jointly develop the most efficient and sustainable means to deliver mobile broadband to customers – built around the Alcatel-Lucent lightRadio product family.  The agreement was signed by   Nasser bin Obood, Acting CEO- Etisalat   and Mr. Nicolas Bouverot, Vice President ME, Alcatel-Lucent.

Through its collaboration around lightRadio, Etisalat will help define the commercial introduction of this new product family in the Middle East and in other markets, meeting its own subscribers’ demands for innovative new mobile services while providing operators with a flexible path for business growth into the next decade.

Nasser bin Obood, Acting CEO- Etisalat said “Etisalat is a pioneer in delivering innovative services and applications to our customers to meet their needs in both their social and work lives.  This agreement will allow us to shape the future of mobile networks and define how lightRadio can be best implemented to satisfy our customers growing demands. Etisalat is proud to be the only operator in the Middle East and Africa to join this pioneering program.”

As global demand for Internet on-the-move services grows dramatically, together with the adoption of the latest smartphones and tablet devices, the need for operators to extend their wireless network coverage and capacity is also growing exponentially to cope with this demand. The lightRadio product family addresses both of these needs, enabling superfast speeds and high-quality delivery of applications to a variety of mobile devices, while reducing the size, complexity, cost and power consumption of mobile networks, making it a greener and more cost-effective solution for operators.

“Our work with Etisalat and other major operators on the development of lightRadio will provide us with a greater insight into how operators plan to implement this groundbreaking new technology in their networks.” Nicolas Bouverot said.

Etisalat is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the Middle East, operating in 18 countries and serving over 100 million customers. Under the joint innovation and collaboration agreement signed today with Alcatel-Lucent, Etisalat will help influence the development of lightRadio via participation in joint working groups, early trials and validation of the technology. Business Modeling teams of Bell Labs – the innovation engine of Alcatel-Lucent – will conduct a study of Etisalat’s network evolution path and determine the best fit of lightRadio products to help to reduce costs and meet customers’ needs. Etisalat is one of 10 operators worldwide selected to participate in this innovative collaboration model.

Visit our website to find out more about Alcatel-Lucent’s lightRadio solution.