Europe France : Alcatel-Lucent announced that its W-CDMA portfolio has received the TL 9000 Certification from the Quality Management Institue (QMI), an accredited QuEST Forum TL 9000 registrar. TL 9000 standards establish a common set of quality management requirements and measurements for telecommunications hardware, software and services.

This TL 9000 certification -- achieved just months after the completion of the Alcatel-Lucent merger and its acquisition of Nortel’s W-CDMA assets -- highlights the speed and success of the integration of three distinct portfolios into one of the industry’s most comprehensive and high-quality W-CDMA product lines.  The certification also provides validation that the integration of processes, systems and practices will help ensure that the portfolio offers best-in-class reliability and quality.

“This certification represents a tremendous achievement for Alcatel-Lucent’s wireless business,” said Alain Biston, president of Alcatel-Lucent’s W-CDMA activities.  “It is no small feat to bring together three different portfolios and organizations, with locations around the world, in such a short time-frame.  The fact that we were able to successfully complete this rigorous certification program so quickly is a testament to our unwavering commitment to delivering quality for our customers.”

TL 9000 certification covers a wide array of business functions, including end-to-end sales, marketing, business development, product management, program management, design, technology introduction, quality and post-sales support activities. Products covered under Alcatel-Lucent’s W-CDMA TL 9000 certification included radio access base transceiver stations (BTS), radio network controllers and network management system offerings. The audit also included business practices at Alcatel-Lucent facilities around the world that support the W-CDMA portfolio.

Through the TL 9000 certification process, Alcatel-Lucent was able to confirm that quality system and operations designed to ensure the reliability of the W-CDMA portfolio were maintained and in some cases strengthened during the integration process.

The TL 9000 standards build on International Standards Organization’s (ISO) 9001 standards, incorporating additional requirements and defining a set of quality measurements for field-deployed products. The TL 9000 standard was developed by the QuEST Forum, an industry group made up of telecommunications companies including service providers, infrastructure vendors, second- and third-party suppliers and liaison bodies. The certification process helps ensure that communications networks provide a high-quality experience for end-users.