Shenandoah Telecommunications(Shentel) has forged a €20.3 milliom (US$30 million) network upgrade agreement with Alcatel-Lucent.
Under the agreement, Alcatel-Lucent will provide equipment, services and software to upgrade Shentel's networks in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
The network upgrade involves the deployment of 3G cdma2000 1xEV-DO Revision A technology, which will enable Shenandoah Personal Communications, a Sprint PCS affiliate of Sprint Nextel, to provide an enhanced mobile data customer experience.
This upgrade is expected to give Shentel's PCS customers increased data capacity and speed for faster uploads and downloads. It will likewise provide enhanced mobile broadband data services, including mobile video telephony, high-quality music and other multimedia applications.
To further expand voice and data coverage and capacity throughout the network, Shentel will also deploy new cell sites in the upgraded network and increase existing cell site capacity.
Shentel will also be deploying Alcatel-Lucent's IP backhaul solution throughout its network to increase network capacity and reduce operational expenses. Alcatel-Lucent will do all Installation, engineering and network integration work.