US : Lucent Technologies announced that it is working with AT&T Wireless to deploy a third-generation (3G) W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) trial network in the greater Miami area to evaluate mobile voice and high-speed data services. Lucent already has achieved several key milestones in the project -- its first 3G W-CDMA deployment in North America -- including the successful completion of a series of voice and data calls on the network.

Lucent is supplying AT&T Wireless with an end-to-end mobile network based on 3G W-CDMA technology, also known as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). The network will incorporate Lucent's Flexent® OneBTS® base stations and core packet networking solution -- which includes the Lucent Softswitch and data networking platforms from Cisco Systems, Inc., including the Cisco Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) and MGX 8000 Series Media Gateways. Lucent also is supplying AT&T Wireless with W-CDMA wireless PC modem cards, which support high-speed data connections on laptops, PDAs and other mobile devices.

"Lucent's solution offers us a great opportunity to explore and evaluate the range of services that 3G W-CDMA will enable us to make available to our customers," said Eric Updyke, vice president -- 3G Program Management, of AT&T Wireless.

3G W-CDMA will enable people to download video clips of films, sporting and entertainment events; send and receive e-mail on the go; and locate nearby services such as ATMs, restaurants or theaters. This advanced mobile communications technology also will enable businesses to provide their employees, such as field service personnel, with high-speed mobile access to their corporate networks and business applications they normally use in the office.

"AT&T Wireless is a leader in the introduction of cutting-edge wireless services in North America," said Roger Derrien, vice president, UMTS product management, for Lucent's Mobility Solutions Group. "We're pleased to be working with them on this trial deployment of 3G high-speed data and multimedia services."

The W-CDMA network will operate in AT&T Wireless' 1900 MHz spectrum, and will be based on an Internet Protocol (IP) architecture that can offer substantial increases in network efficiency, and support a wide variety of multimedia services.

While this is the first trial in North America, Lucent has additional 3G W-CDMA/UMTS pilot network deployments underway in Europe. Lucent is a leading global provider of mobile networking technologies, having deployed more than 80,000 spread-spectrum base stations for mobile operators worldwide. Spread-spectrum technology is the basis for 3G W-CDMA (UMTS) and CDMA2000 networks.