Alcatel

NSN: Not going bust, but will grow market share, states CEO

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:21:32 -0500

Having only had the job for a few weeks, Nokia Siemens Networks' CEO, Rajeev Suri, has strongly rebutted rumours that the company is on the verge of going bust, and stated that it has the capabilities to grow faster than the overall infrastructure and services market next year.

While some might see this as a bold target given the growing strength of the competition, Unstrung reported that Suri claims NSN can recapture some of the ground lost to the likes of Huawei, ZTE and Ericsson.

""We are seeing some stability... It's too early to call it a recovery," but NSN is seeing a return to Capex spending by operators in Asia/Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, and in Russia where spending had declined notably, stated Suri.

He noted in particular that there are new professional services opportunities in markets such as Australia, Russia and Japan. The CEO maintained that NSN has a strong position in these markets, including 16,000 involved in managed services engagements.

Commenting on how NSN will grow its equipment market share, Suri said the company would be more aggressive than elsewhere for winning deals in key markets, such as India, Brazil, US, China, Russia and Japan. However, it was not prepared to dump prices to win deals on these markets, "We will continue to have deal discipline," he said

NSN has confirmed that it aims to gain market share in a flat market with its operating profit margin to reach 2 per cent, at best. Its ailing rival Alcatel-Lucent is targeting a 5 per cent operating profit margin next year, while it sees the market growing a maximum of 5 per cent.

On a positive note, Suri said that NSN would unveil its fourth order for new LTE network technology shortly.

For more on this story:
Unstrung and Reuters

Alca-Lu calls time on Austrian WiMAX operator

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:29:34 -0500

Failure to reach agreement over unpaid bills has seen the Austrian-based WiMAX Telecom file for bankruptcy after Alcatel-Lucent demanded payment the wireless operator could not come up with.

WiMAX Telecom, which started to deploy its network in 2005 using equipment supplied by Alca-Lu, has been struggling to find new investors having only attracted 2,600 subscribers. The company initially offered WiMAX coverage in Burgenland and Steiermark, but more recently expanded this by regional deployments in Lower Austria, Higher Austria and Vorarlberg. The company claims it has sufficient funds to continue operating for between three and four months, during which time it will continue to search for new investors.

Meanwhile, WiMAX's biggest supporter, Intel, has indicated an interest in participating in the auction for India's broadband wireless spectrum. However, it has denied any intention of becoming a WiMAX service provider, but could partner with other companies for a spectrum partnership. Google has also registered an interest in bidding for spectrum.

For more on this story:
Telegeography

Alca-Lu wins LTE trials, 14 planned for next 6 months

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:11:38 -0400

Operators are indicating their increasing level of interest in LTE by contracting to trial the technology with infrastructure vendors, claims Alca-Lu. The company has confirmed it will launch 14 new LTE operator trials over the next six months, bringing the total number planned for next year to 22.

This news follows on from the company's CEO, Ben Verwaayen, stating that LTE was the "flagship of change at Alcatel-Lucent", and hinted that the vendor was increasingly well placed to win more contracts.

Speaking to Unstrung, Alca-Lu's new president of 4G/LTE wireless networks, Ken Wirth, said that this trials activity was enabling the company to encroach into other suppliers' territory. "Those trial customers... are not just necessarily customers that have our Alca-Lu 2G or 3G infrastructure in their network," said Wirth. "They involve a number of our competitors' embedded bases as well."

While some industry observers were surprised at Alca-Lu's inclusion in the Verizon Wireless LTE contract announced earlier this year, it has placed the company alongside its major competitors as the market develops. "[We're] really seeing customers move much more quickly than I think people thought maybe a year or so ago to really evaluate LTE and evaluate what it can bring to their business," added Wirth.

Ericsson is thought to have the largest number of LTE trial contracts, Huawei has admitted it will have more than 25 by the end of this year, and Nokia Siemens Networks claims four LTE reference contracts.

For more on this story:
Unstrung

Vodafone partners with Alca-Lu in German smart metering trial

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:36:57 -0400

The drive to ‘go green' is being tracked by an increasing number of smart metering trials involving cell phone operators. The latest to be announced will be managed by Alcatel-Lucent with the involvement of Vodafone Germany and the smart meter provider Diehl Energy Solutions, offering a smart metering package to German utility Stadtwerke Pasewalk.

Alca-Lu said it would operate the central meter data management system to monitor and control the smart meters, while Vodafone Germany would provide the M2M cellular links and Diehl would install the smart meters and attached services.

The trial network has been designed to help Stadtwerke Pasewalk meet the upcoming EU's rules which will require consumption-dependent billing of gas, electricity and water as of the 1st of January 2010. It will also give the power utility's customers the ability to monitor their own energy consumption in real time and optimise it accordingly.

The European Commission has told member states that they have until the end of 2010 to agree on a common specification for smart metering to provide consumers with better information and help them manage their energy consumption. The Commission has stated that a timeframe for the roll-out of smart metering in European households should be agreed at the latest by the end of 2012.

For more on this story:
Press Zoom & E Gov Monitor

Successful LTE tests could see German roll-out next year, says Alca-Lu

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:35:03 -0400

‘Very satisfied', was how Erich Zielinski, head of the end-to-end 4G/LTE-solutions of Alcatel-Lucent, described the initial test results from the company's LTE trial network. This effort promoted the company to predict that the first LTE services would become available in Germany by the end of 2010.

The LTE tests, which involved five eNodeBs in the Alca-Lu labs and three eNodeBs in open terrain, together with packet data transmission in the core network as well as prototype mobile devices, were said to have achieved data rates of up to 60Mbps in the 2.6GHz band. "Time-critical applications run without any delay, and the handover between two LTE cells was seamless with video broadcasts not being affected," said Zielinski. "The tests indicate that our LTE technology fulfils all the conditions relating to the Web 2.0 requirements."

Future LTE tests, said Zielinski, would focus on voice and SMS traffic--which would involve examination of the ‘Voice over LTE Generic Access' technology being promoted by T-Mobile--and the use of IMS.

For more on this story:
Portel.de

Telefonica O2 to test LTE in six countries, but no deployment plans

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:35:31 -0400

A significant boost has been given to the future success of LTE with the announcement from Telefonica O2 that it planned to conduct field trials of the technology in six countries within the next six months. However, the company said that these tests would only act as a guide to any future LTE roll-out, helping Telefonica O2 to be fully prepared when a decision became necessary.

The countries chosen include Spain, the UK, Germany, the Czech Republic and, surprisingly, Argentina and Brazil. The vendors selected to support these trials are Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, NSN, NEC, Huawei and ZTE, with each being given a separate country in which to build a network for the six-month test period. However, Telefonica O2 said that the trials would not necessarily be limited to six infrastructure vendors or six countries, which might open the doors to players like Fujitsu or Motorola.

The company is being vague about the commercial deployment of LTE, only confirming that it is continuing to define its LTE strategy and the trial results would help with this effort. In several markets selected for the test, Telefonica O2 does not own free spectrum suitable for LTE. COO, Julio Linares, added that the trials were also about "offering the best service from the moment that the equipment and terminals can support the new standards and are available for sale."

The first European commercial LTE network is scheduled by TeliaSonera to go live next year in Sweden, whereas Telefonica O2 demonstrated mobile VoIP and video conferencing over LTE six months ago in Madrid.

For more on this story:
Cellular News

No merger on horizon, claims Alcatel-Lucent CEO

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:57:04 -0400

Despite ongoing speculation, the CEO of Alcatel-Lucent, Ben Verwaayen, has quashed any ideas that a merger with another infrastructure vendor was being considered. Stating that these rumours had been overplayed, Verwaayen claimed that the situation with respect to formally linking with China's Huawei or ZTE had not changed and he was happy with how the company was positioned to gain business in the burgeoning Chinese market.

However, while ZTE has made plain its lack of interest in acquiring a shareholding in Alcatel-Lucent, Huawei would only admit to not being in talks with the French-based firm, but tellingly confessed to being open to ‘cooperation opportunities', without elaborating.

In an attempt to kill off this industry gossip, Verwaayen said the telecoms equipment industry was more focused on transformation than consolidation. "The only strategy you have to understand is your own strategy, never adapt to the other guy's," said Verwaayen.

This robust defence of the company's future has to be viewed against the fact that China represents more than half of Alcatel-Lucent's activities in the Asia-Pacific region, and a Chinese partner would significantly boost its chances of securing additional business within the country.

For more on this story:
Total Telecom

Femtocells: Vodafone sets the pace with European launch

Paul Rasmussen — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:35:08 -0400

European operators have been left in Vodafone's wake following the surprise announcement that the company will launch a commercial femtocell service in Europe as early as 1 July.

This move, which follows numerous femtocell trials by Vodafone, is a significant boost for the technology which was in danger of stagnation as operators repeatedly delayed commercial deployments. However, the company has stolen the initiative from other operators, such as O2 and T-Mobile, that had seemed to be making the most progress with femtocell trials and commercial pilots.

Interestingly, Vodafone plans to offer no femto-specific applications, with the intent being simply to improve indoor coverage at this stage. Also of note is the selection of Alcatel-Lucent as the femtocell supplier, one of the more prominent Tier 1 wireless vendors to offer its own devices rather than badging those of a specialist supplier, which will boost the hopes of the silicon developer picoChip, which also supplies the chipset for ip.access and others femtocell vendors. Vodafone has used equipment from several femtocell vendors for trials

Labelled the Vodafone Access Gateway, the femtocell will be available in stores and online from 1 July. The router-sized box plugs into the broadband line to create a homezone, and can can be used by up to four standard handsets or other 3G devices at one time. The Gateway is available for free, depending on the subscribers data plan, with options from £15 ($24) a month. It can also be purchased upfront, with no commitment, for £160, or on a monthly charge from £5.

For more on this story:
Rethink Wireless and Total Telecom

Global Wireless Infrastructure Revenues Declined 22.4% YoY in Q1/09

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 11:37:44 -0400

The global wireless BTS infrastructure market revenues declined by 22.4 per cent for the first quarter of 2009 to US$9.8 billion compared with the first quarter of 2008, according to the latest report from EJL Wireless Research. The figure includes shipments by wireless OEMs including Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia Siemens Networks, Nortel Networks, and ZTE--but not Huawei. "While we expected a seasonally weak Q1, revenues were off by 32.5 per cent from Q4 which is indicative of the continued economic uncertainty within the wireless sector," says founder and President Earl Lum. ZTE was the only company that did not decline substantially in Q1 from Q4 levels while Nortel was down 60.6 per cent due to the continued uncertainty on the emergence of the company from bankruptcy protection." Article

Nortel nears breakup point

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:10:09 -0400

Having stared into the abyss for some months, Nortel Networks is thought to be readying itself for the final breakup act. Some observers believe asset sales will start to take place this week, triggered by reports from Canada and South Korea that Nortel has appointed Goldman Sachs to find a buyer for its 50 per cent stake in the joint venture LG-Nortel. Goldman's could value the sale of this unit as high as US$1 billion.

Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) has made a formal bid for Nortel's wireless and VOIP technology division (known as its Carrier business unit) and is seen as the favourite to acquire this part of Nortel, while its Enterprise business could be sold within days, with US-based Avaya and Siemens Enterprise Communications of Germany being the top bidders. Nortel's optical assets could be sold by the end of June, with Alcatel-Lucent, Fujitsu and Huawei being the most likely bidders.

Nortel has also been successful in its application to the Canadian bankruptcy courts for another three months to complete its reorganisation plan.

For more on this story:
Financial Times and Cellular News