Mobile operator Vodafone Qatar has selected Alcatel-Lucent and partner companies to deploy, integrate and operate a direct fibre-based access network for the provision of converged fixed and wireless multi-play services. Qatar’s second cellco – also the state’s second fixed line licensee – has contracted Alcatel-Lucent to roll out a fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network, based on gigabit passive optical network (GPON) and point-to-point Gigabit Ethernet technology. The French-US vendor’s IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) solution will then be used to link the new infrastructure with Vodafone Qatar’s existing 2G/3G mobile network with the aim of providing seamless converged services including virtual office applications and VoIP solutions, with unified billing and charging.
Vodafone Qatar has worked with Alcatel-Lucent throughout 2010 on improving the quality of its GSM/W-CDMA-based mobile network, deploying 50 new cell sites in the year to reach a total of more than 410. The cellco says the work has allowed it to cope with a 35% annual increase in voice traffic and a five-fold increase in data usage, whilst its network capacity has been raised to one million 2G/3G users.