Etisalat Lanka awards Alcatel-Lucent major mobile/IP network contract

Alcatel-Lucent has signed a ‘multi-million US dollar’ contract with the Sri Lankan mobile subsidiary of UAE-based Etisalat, to significantly boost its GSM/EDGE network capacity and coverage and build a 3.5G HSPA+ wireless all-IP broadband network. The French-US firm will be the sole supplier of an end-to-end solution, including the converged radio access network, a new all-IP mobile packet core network capable of supporting 2G, 3G and 4G, and a full end-to-end IP transport solution. In total, 480 GSM/EDGE base station sites and 515 HSPA+ sites will be deployed as part of the contract. The IP-based network will provide scalable bandwidth to accommodate the anticipated surge in mobile traffic and provide the foundation for the future introduction of Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology. Alca-Lu’s solution also includes MiTV, an application that will enable Etisalat Lanka to offer advanced mobile broadband and multimedia services such as live mobile interactive television, on-demand video content and multi-party gaming to over three million subscribers and businesses in Sri Lanka. The cellco adopted the Etisalat brand name in February following the UAE group’s purchase of the company from Millicom International Cellular last year; Etisalat Lanka will be the island’s fourth operator to launch 3G mobile services.