US : Alcatel-Lucent announced an agreement for Alcatel-Lucent to support the expansion of AT&T's UMTS/HSPA (Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service/High Speed Packet Access) wireless network.

Inset is Cindy Christy, President of Alcatel-Lucent's Americas business who is quoted below.

The expansion includes the deployment of Alcatel-Lucent's UMTS/HSDPA Distributed NodeB solution, which provides operators with the flexibility to deploy third-generation (3G) radio network elements in a wide array of locations including the sides of buildings, existing cell sites, remote locations and more, helping operators build out their networks more quickly and cost-effectively.

This advanced mobile network project will enable AT&T to expand capacity while offering sophisticated next-generation services, including advanced multimedia, mobile broadband and converged services such as audio and video streaming, video sharing and high-speed mobile Internet access on 3G handsets. The technology also will help decrease AT&T's operating expenditures due to the cost saving features of this compact, easy-to-deploy, low-power solution.

As part of the agreement - which builds on Alcatel-Lucent's November 2004 UMTS/HSPA supply agreement with AT&T - Alcatel-Lucent has expanded the end-to-end, turnkey UMTS/HSPA solution, including messaging, voice switching and network applications and services. Alcatel-Lucent also has previously supplied AT&T with an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) service delivery solution - TDM, ATM and MPLS networking solutions, as well as ADSL/VDSL broadband access and optical advanced platforms.

"Alcatel-Lucent has had a longstanding relationship with AT&T," said Cindy Christy, President of Alcatel-Lucent's Americas business. "The introduction of our Distributed NodeB reinforces Alcatel-Lucent's worldwide leadership in mobile broadband, highlights our strong footprint in the North America market and underscores our commitment to helping service providers transform their services, network and business to profitably increase voice and data penetration, and enable mass-market wireless broadband."

As a global leader in the development and deployment of third-generation (3G) networks, Alcatel-Lucent has deployed commercial 3G (UMTS/HSPA and CDMA2000) systems for more than 70 operators worldwide.