• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Cellular South Selects Alcatel-Lucent to Upgrade Network for Wireless Broadband Services in Mississippi and Tennessee Markets

Posted on: Wednesday, 24 October 2007, 12:00 CDT

JACKSON, Mississippi and PARIS, October 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cellular South, the nation's largest privately held wireless provider, and Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris: ALU) today announced that Cellular South has awarded Alcatel-Lucent a three-year agreement valued at up to US$55 million in equipment, services and software to upgrade Cellular South's network in Memphis, Tenn. and Jackson, Miss.

The network upgrade includes the deployment of third-generation (3G) CDMA2000(R) 1xEV-DO Revision A (Rev. A) technology, which will enable Cellular South to provide an enhanced mobile data customer experience. Cellular South customers will experience increased data capacity and speed for faster uploads and downloads, as well as new, enhanced mobile broadband data services, which includes mobile video telephony, high-quality music and other multimedia applications.

"Alcatel-Lucent will help in our continuous efforts to upgrade our network," said Tony Kent, senior vice president of Engineering and Operations for Cellular South. "Cellular South customers will be assured the most advanced wireless technology which will provide unequalled voice and data quality along with the CDMA technology that enables our customers to have True Unlimited Nationwide calling."

In addition, Alcatel-Lucent will provide its industry leading IP/MPLS solution, which includes the Alcatel-Lucent 7750 Service Router and 7450 Ethernet Service Switch, to deploy an IP routing and IP RAN backhaul solution. Built on a single unified IP infrastructure, Alcatel-Lucent's IP-based solution is designed to support multiple types of services with superior scale, hierarchical quality of service and availability, which are critical for ensuring subscriber Quality of Experience (QoE) for multimedia applications. Alcatel-Lucent will provide installation, engineering, training and technical support.

"Alcatel-Lucent has been a key infrastructure provider to Cellular South and this agreement underscores the confidence they have in us to help lay the groundwork for an all-IP network in the future," said Cindy Christy, president of Alcatel-Lucent's North America business. "This agreement is another illustration of Alcatel-Lucent's commitment to our customers and to CDMA technology."

EV-DO Rev. A continues the evolution of CDMA2000 technology, bringing increases in efficiency, data speeds and capacity to existing CDMA2000 1X and 1xEV-DO networks.

CDMA2000 is a registered trademark of the Telecommunications Industry Association.

About Cellular South

Cellular South is the largest privately held wireless provider in the U.S. The company is focused on providing the best service possible through its nationwide wireless voice and data network, award-winning customer care, state-of-the-art wireless devices, and commitment to the communities it serves. Cellular South is now the nation's leader in m-commerce technology availability and adoption with its' next-generation mobile payment products, such as OboPay and Wireless Wallet. For more information, visit http://www.cellularsouth.com/.

About Alcatel-Lucent

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) provides solutions that enable service providers, enterprises and governments worldwide, to deliver voice, data and video communication services to end-users. As a leader in fixed, mobile and converged broadband networking, IP technologies, applications, and services, Alcatel-Lucent offers the end-to-end solutions that enable compelling communications services for people at home, at work and on the move. With operations in more than 130 countries, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with global reach. The company has the most experienced global services team in the industry, and one of the largest research, technology and innovation organizations in the telecommunications industry. Alcatel-Lucent achieved adjusted proforma revenues of Euro 18.3 billion in 2006 and is incorporated in France, with executive offices located in Paris. (All figures exclude impact of activities transferred to Thales). For more information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on the Internet: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/

Alcatel-Lucent Press Contacts Regine Coqueran +33(0)1-40-76-49-24 regine.coqueran@alcatel-lucent.com Mark Burnworth +33(0)1-40-76-50-84 mark.burnworth@alcatel-lucent.com Alcatel-Lucent Investor Relations Scott Ashby +33(0)1-40-76-29-90 scott.ashby@alcatel-lucent.com Maria Alcon +33(0)1-40-76-15-17 maria.alcon@alcatel-lucent.com John DeBono +1-908-582-7793 debono@alcatel-lucent.com Tony Lucido +33(0)1-40-76-49-80 alucido@alcatel-lucent.com Don Sweeney +1-908-582-6153 dsweeney@alcatel-lucent.com Cellular South Press Contacts Jim Richmond +1-601-974-7504 jrichmond@cellularsouth.com Liz Whelan +1-312-616-8394 lwhelan@ckpr.biz

Alcatel-Lucent

CONTACT: Alcatel-Lucent Press Contacts, Regine Coqueran,+33(0)1-40-76-49-24, regine.coqueran@alcatel-lucent.com, Mark Burnworth,+33(0)1-40-76-50-84, mark.burnworth@alcatel-lucent.com; Alcatel-LucentInvestor Relations, Scott Ashby, +33(0)1-40-76-29-90,scott.ashby@alcatel-lucent.com, Maria Alcon, +33(0)1-40-76-15-17,maria.alcon@alcatel-lucent.com, John DeBono, +1-908-582-7793,debono@alcatel-lucent.com, Tony Lucido, +33(0)1-40-76-49-80,alucido@alcatel-lucent.com, Don Sweeney, +1-908-582-6153,dsweeney@alcatel-lucent.com; Cellular South Press Contacts, Jim Richmond,+1-601-974-7504, jrichmond@cellularsouth.com, Liz Whelan, +1-312-616-8394,lwhelan@ckpr.biz

Source: PRNewswire-FirstCall

More News in this Category