Date: 25/10/2010

Alcatel-Lucent obtains 12 femto contracts in three months

Alcatel-Lucent obtains 12 femto contracts in three months

Alcatel-Lucent has announced it has secured its 12th Femto contract in three months. The company is currently holding over 20 on-going trials (with Etisalat in the United Arab Emirates, for instance) and 14 commercial deployment agreements in the small scale market. Commercial contracts include the selection of Alcatel-Lucent by Vodafone Group.

Alcatel-Lucent's Small Cell solution features numerous Bell Labs innovations around self-organizing networks (SON). The SON technology can reduce handover failures by up to 80%, says Alcatel-Lucent. Using SON technology, Alcatel-Lucent's Small Cell portfolio also has the capability to continuously adjust transmit power to the surrounding environment.

According to a recent study by market research firm Infonetics Research, "4G Strategies: Global Service Provider Survey," there is significant operator interest in launching Femtocell services. This is particularly true of 3G Femtocell-based cellular home zones, with 36% of respondents currently offering such a service and 82% planning to do so by 2014.

"Having been an early proponent of this technology, introducing its first Femtocell solution more than five years ago, Alcatel-Lucent is well positioned to help mobile operators take advantage of this burgeoning opportunity," says Richard Webb, Directing Analyst for WiMAX, Microwave & Mobile Devices, Infonetics Research.

"Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs' modeling has shown that it is up to 100 times less expensive to send a bit through a small cell than it is through the macro cell. Small cells provide quicker and more economical capacity gains and should become an essential ingredient when augmenting mobile broadband capacity and moving to smarter networks," adds Wim Sweldens, head of Alcatel-Lucent's Wireless activities. "The small cell market is gaining real traction and is now set for the next phase, with commercial services and large-scale deployments expected to significantly increase by the end of 2010. Alcatel-Lucent is a front runner in this space as illustrated by our recent wins - i.e., one per week."