Bouygues Telecom to deploy easy-to-install indoor small cells deliver optimum 3G service to business customers while reducing strain on the macro-cell radio networks

Paris, July 2, 2013, Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU), the leading network technology group, and Bouygues Telecom, one of France’s largest mobile service providers, today announced the deployment of small cell technology – Femto Enterprise V2.2 – to help boost 3G mobile broadband access and quality for their business customers in France.

The small cells, with truly plug and play access points, will help extend Bouygues Telecom’s network coverage in areas where buildings’ walls can degrade the quality of a mobile signal, or in areas too far from a traditional macro cell tower. For enterprise customers, that means a second-to-none quality service for their day-to-day business needs.

Key facts:

• Small cells can be applied to bring existing 3G customers improved quality of experience whenever required for both voice and high speed HSxPA data by making more effective use of available wireless spectrum
• Bouygues Telecom enterprise customers (and their guests who subscribe to Bouyges Telecom services) will benefit from truly seamless wireless communications inside offices and when they  leaving the building.
• Bouygues Telecom’s small cells deployment will increase the capacity of its wireless network while reducing the need either to upgrade or to build new traditional cell towers, with all the burdens related to sites management (acquisition delays and permits related costs)
• Alcatel-Lucent small cell technology is a first step for Bouygues Telecom’s move toward true ‘HetNet’ networking – heterogeneous networks combining a number of wireless technologies and transmission options to cost effectively deliver coverage and capacity in all environments
• Alcatel-Lucent is a leader in the small cell space having more than 53 commercial contracts worldwide

Quotes:

Jean-Paul Arzel, Network Director of Bouygues Telecom said: “Quality of Service is one of Bouygues Telecom’s major strategic axis in a very competitive landscape in France. It is therefore a great benefit to offer our mobile customers the option of also enjoying high quality 3G services especially when they are in their office building. Increasing the indoor quality of service and experience of our customers with small cells brings an agile and very interesting alternative as compared to outdoor radio sites which have increasingly become a challenge to modify or build.”

Luis Martinez Amago, President of Alcatel-Lucent’s EMEA region, said: “In an increasingly competitive marketplace, the Alcatel-Lucent small cell solution is a key tool to help Bouygues Telecom continue providing the quality of service their customers have come to expect no matter where they might be. Having high quality 3G service in the places where customers spend most of their time goes a long way in creating a high level of satisfaction.”

Additional resources:

• Whitepaper:  Small Cells Create New Opportunities in the Enterprise: http://bit.ly/ZgW8cm

About Bouygues Telecom

As a full-service electronic communications operator (mobile, fixed, TV, Internet and cloud computing), Bouygues Telecom stands out for its innovative products and services and award-winning customer relations serving its 11.3 million mobile and 1.9 million fixed broadband customers, which include more than 1.5 million professional and corporate clients and more than 1.4 million B&You clients.

After inventing the mobile talk-plan concept in France in 1996, Bouygues Telecom has always been a pioneer in innovation: it introduced the first unlimited call plans with Millennium (1999) and Neo (2006); in 2007, it launched the first fixed-mobile convergence offer for corporate customers; in 2009, it invented the “all-in-one” solution with ideo, the first quadruple play offer in the market; and, as early as July 2011, it invented mobile telephony 2.0 with B&YOU, the first SIM-only Web-Only offer. In June 2012, Bouygues Telecom launched Bbox Sensation, its new range of routers packed with the most innovative technologies on the market that will transform the digital home experience.

Its mobile network covers 99% of the French population with 2G, 96% with 3G+ up to 7,2 Mbit/s and 60% with H+ up to 42 Mbit/s. Bouygues Telecom is also deploying a nationwide 4G network covering over 100 cities, bringing 40% of the French population access to 4G from October 2013.

Each day, the company’s 9,441 employees develop solutions aligned with changing customer needs.

2,000 customer relations advisers, a distribution network of 650 Clubs Bouygues Telecom stores – with their 2,500 sales advisers – and its websites combine to ensure optimum customer service on a daily basis.  www.bouyguestelecom.fr

Bouygues Telecom media contact: Diane Jurien – djurien@bouyguestelecom.fr – 01 58 17 94 82