Networking giant Alcatel announced that Orange France had begun the initial phase of its live HSDPA services in the Paris area with Alcatel's radio access solution.
Orange users located in Issy-les-Moulineaux and Boulogne-Billancourt , two major cities in the Paris region, would test the service, Alcatel said in a statement.
The tests, according to Alcatel, are expected to "pave the way for the future commercial opening of Orange's services in Europe."
In February 2005, Orange committed to actively prepare the deployment of Mobile Very High-Speed solutions.
Providing Orange with Alcatel's HSDPA solution would allow the carrier to bring significant added value over 3G/UMTS, and to stay ahead of customer demand and satisfaction, Alcatel further said.
