Paris, December 13, 2010. du today announced its plans to use the Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) innovative small cells technology for making its fixed and mobile converged services offering a reality, the launch of which is scheduled for the end of 2010.
du owns one of the most advanced networks in the Emirates region – consisting of a fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) architecture on the fixed side, and an HSDPA+ network on the mobile side. Leveraging its existing fixed and mobile infrastructure assets, du will now deploy Alcatel-Lucent’s small cells technology to help its customers overcome indoor mobile coverage issues.
“Alcatel-Lucent’s expertise enables us to provide our customers with the fastest and highest-quality network connectivity – across fixed and mobile, both indoors and outdoors. Building on Alcatel-Lucent’s Small Cells approach, we can satisfy the increasingly demanding mobile service requirements of our residential and business subscribers – answering their need for crystal-clear voice and high-speed data services, no matter where they are and through any 3G-enabled device,” said Farid Faraidooni, Chief Commercial Officer, du.
“This contract confirms our company’s commitment, trust and partnership with du and results from Alcatel-Lucent’s pioneering role in one of the latest trends in wireless communications – i.e., extending mobile coverage to in-building environments,” said Amr El Leithy, Head of Alcatel-Lucent’s business in the Middle East and Africa. “Building on our worldwide experience in this space, our portfolio of home and enterprise cells will enrich the wireless service experience of du’s customers and help du to better monetize the delivery of today’s and tomorrow’s mobile data applications.”
Alcatel-Lucent will provide its end-to-end Femto-based 9360 Small Cell portfolio – consisting of the 9361 Home Cell, the 9362 Enterprise Cell, the 9366 Small Cell Gateway, and Small Cell Management & Customer Care systems.
Alcatel-Lucent’s small cells automatically come into service without requiring any manual configuration by the end-user. Moreover, du will benefit from the power of Bell Labs’ innovative self-organizing network (SON) innovation, reducing handover failures by as much as 80 percent while bringing important operational efficiency savings.
About the Alcatel-Lucent Small Cell approach
Alcatel-Lucent establishes itself as the leading end-to-end Femtocell / small cells vendor, currently holding more than 20 ongoing trials and 14 commercial deployment agreements. Commercial contracts include the selection of Alcatel-Lucent by Etisalat and du in the UAE and by Vodafone Group as its preferred vendor for the deployment of a nationwide Femtocell service in the UK.
Alcatel-Lucent’s Small Cell approach benefits from the company’s unique expertise in bringing together wireless and IP technologies into a single, coherent network. It is an integral part of Alcatel-Lucent’s Application Enablement vision – building on its High Leverage Network™ architecture to deliver wireless IP services. Alcatel-Lucent is leading in small cells with an unrivaled end-to-end portfolio that includes innovation from Bell Labs such as support systems for customer care and self-organizing networks (SON).
More information: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/wireless/femto_small_cells.html
About du
du, the integrated telecom service provider in the UAE, launched mobile telecommunication services in February 2007 across the UAE, in addition to internet and pay TV services that du provides in some of the free zones of Dubai. Call Select, du’s nationwide fixed line services for voice telephony, was launched in July 2007. By the end of 2008, over 3 million people in the UAE chose to become du customers.
Among du’s many firsts is its historic Number Booking Campaign for both individuals and business, Pay by the Second billing system, Mobile TV, Mobile Payments, first of its kind ‘WoW’ recharge card (which offers customers the choice between ‘more credit’, ‘more time’ and now the ‘more international’ recharge option with additional credit on international calls) and Self Care.
For business customers, du business offers include Closed Business User Group and preferred International Destinations. du Broadcast Services division brings scalable media technology platforms and telecommunication solutions to the broadcast community through its world-class teleport (Samacom) and Master Control Room (MCR) facilities.
du products and services for consumers and business are available through du’s retail network, currently numbering 34 du shops located in strategic locations across the UAE, including the recently opened flagship store located in the heart of Abu Dhabi. In addition, customers can access du products and services at more than 3000 authorised dealers or through the du e-shop, accessible at http://www.du.ae/en/where-to-buy/eshop.html. du shops are a one-stop-shop for mobile service, carrier select and the payment of service bills.
du is 39.5 per cent owned by the UAE Federal Government, 19.75 per cent by Mubadala Development Company, 19.5 per cent by Emirates Communications & Technology Company LLC and the remaining stake by public shareholders. It is listed on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) and trades under the name du.
Awards to date
• du selected as a UAE Superbrand at the Superbrands awards gala 2010.
• du presented with an award for Best Middle Eastern Local Currency Deal 2008 by UK’s EuroWeek
• du won two prestigious awards at UAE Web Awards 2008. du e-shop portal won the best strategic online portal award in the e-commerce category and du media club website won the bronze award in the media and press category.
• du corporate brand launch campaign awarded a Cristal MENA award in 2008.
• du declared ‘Best Brand’ at Telecoms World Awards Middle East 2007 for innovative branding and outstanding brand success.
• Second place in the New Brand Launch category at the GMR Effectiveness in Marketing Awards 2007.
• Silver Award for the best website in the ICT category at the UAE Web Awards 2007.
• du WoW TV Commercial awarded amongst the best 50 TV commercials in mobile telecom category in the world for 2007.
About Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) is the trusted transformation partner of service providers, enterprises, strategic industries such as defense, energy, healthcare, transportation, and governments worldwide, providing solutions to deliver voice, data and video communication services to end-users. A leader in fixed, mobile and converged broadband networking, IP and optics technologies, applications and services, Alcatel-Lucent leverages the unrivalled technical and scientific expertise of Bell Labs, one of the largest innovation powerhouses in the communications industry. With operations in more than 130 countries and the most experienced global services organization in the industry, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with a global reach. Alcatel-Lucent achieved revenues of Euro 15.2 billion in 2009 and is incorporated in France, with executive offices located in Paris. For more information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on the Internet: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com, read the latest posts on the Alcatel-Lucent blog http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/blog and follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Alcatel_Lucent.
