Dubai, UAE and Paris – April 23rd, 2013 – Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) and du have announced that Alcatel-Lucent has been selected to build the second phase of a high-speed 100G coherent optical transport network throughout the United Arab Emirates.

The new optical transport network will enable du to dramatically boost the speed and capacity of its existing network, and thanks to the efficiency of OTN sub-wavelength grooming, it will support the booming explosion of data traffic generated by the proliferation of mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets in the most economical way.

Key Facts:

• du will use Alcatel-Lucent’s 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS) to address the booming demand for high-bandwidth data services such as high-definition video streaming, next-generation mobile broadband applications and cloud services.
• Network capacity and performance will be significantly boosted by taking advantage of unique Bell Labs silicon innovations to support data speeds of 100 gigabits-per-second on each of the 88 wavelengths.
• Alcatel-Lucent is supplying du with its soft decision forward error correction (SD-FEC) -based 100G coherent optical technology developed using the company’s recently introduced Photonic Service Engine (PSE), 400G chip. SD-FEC is a method that can extend the reach of 100G signals to much longer, more usable distances.
• Key 1830 PSS features, such as OTN switching and the SDH Gateway, help maximize the bandwidth utilization of 100G channels letting service providers more efficiently fill their 100G pipes
• Alcatel-Lucent’s 100G fiber optic technology supports a capacity of up to 8.8 Terabit per second – the equivalent of 1.32 million HDTV channels streamed at the same time – over a single optical fibre
• Alcatel-Lucent and du have a longstanding relationship and recently announced the selection of Alcatel-Lucent to boost converged service offerings in the UAE by deploying the latest IP-routing technology. Traffic from du’s converged high-performance IP router–based network will be transported using the 1830 PSS.

Quotes:

Saleem AlBalooshi, Executive Vice President – Customer Operations and acting Executive Vice President – Network Development and Operations, du, said: “Customer experience is our priority. We constantly endeavour to develop our infrastructure, taking into consideration the digital age and the changing needs of our customers. The demand for data services is growing by the second and we selected Alcatel-Lucent’s solution to boost the capabilities of our network in order to accommodate future needs. We are confident that Alcatel-Lucent’s global knowledge will contribute to delivering the best experience as a result of this project.”

Amr K. El-Leithy, President Middle East, Turkey and Africa region, said: “In continuing to team with du, Alcatel-Lucent is expanding our position as the leading next-generation network provider in the UAE. The new SD-FEC based 100G coherent optical transport network du is deploying will enable them to future differentiate themselves and meet the ever-growing broadband data needs of their customers.”

Helpful links:

• The Alcatel-Lucent single-carrier 100G coherent solution (website)
• The Alcatel-Lucent single-carrier 100G coherent solution (video)
• 400G Photonic Service Engine (website)
• Paving the way the world’s first commercial 400G coherent solution (video)
• Alcatel-Lucent 1830 PSS photo

About du
We opened for business in 2006. We offer mobile and fixed telephony, broadband connectivity and IPTV services to individuals, homes and businesses. We also provide carrier services for businesses and satellite up/downlink services for TV broadcasters.

As a rapidly-growing enterprise, we have a team of experts working to enhance and expand our bouquet of service offerings. Our people come from over 60 countries – we mirror the rich cultural diversity of our nation, while being able to serve our customers in a variety of languages.

Over 50% of our senior management team and customer-facing employees are UAE nationals, and we remain committed to providing fulfilling opportunities for quality talent in a cosmopolitan working environment.

By the end of 2012, more than 6.45 million people and over 50,000 businesses have chosen to use our services. In a survey conducted by ARC Chart, we were named the Best Mobile Broadband Network 2012 in the Middle East and Africa region. We also ranked first in MENA’s Standard & Poor/Hawkamah Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance Index in 2011.

du is 39.5 percent owned by Emirates Investment Authority, 20.081 percent by Mubadala Development Company PJSC, 19.5 percent by Emirates Communications and Technology LLC and the remaining stake by public shareholders. du is listed on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) and trades under the name ‘du’.