Orange and Alcatel Lucent plan to pool resources to make it easier for French businesses to develop next-generation content and communication services based on LTE technology.
The pair will combine their R&D and expertise to simplify content creation by SMEs in France’s Loire and Brittany regions. The Arc Bretagne Atlantique (ABA) program has the backing of regional authorities in those areas, and will help local businesses to develop, test, and market converged mobile services.
Most of the testing will be carried out on the ImaginLab platform, with additional validation provided by the two group’s own testing suites.
SME’s will also gain access to human, technological, business and financial resources, to assist them in developing applications fit for high-speed fixed and mobile networks.
Orange’s Vincent Marcatté and Alcatel-Lucent’s Gérard Le Bihan have been appointed as co-directors, to ensure the smooth running of the program.
Pierre Barnabé, chairman and CEO of Alcatel-Lucent France, says the program fits well with the firm’s LTE plans, and provides "an opportunity to incubate new ideas, stimulate the ecosystem and add to…operators' portfolio of services and applications.”