Alcatel-Lucent and NEC announced they will join forces to develop LTE and wireless broadband infrastructure gear. Specifically, the two firms, which have already collaborated on an LTE trial, will pool their R&D on MIMO (multiple in/multiple out), OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiple access) and other IP technologies. Both companies said that by teaming on their efforts they will speed deployment of LTE, which they expect to have commercially available in 2009.
This venture will likely impact operators such as Verizon Wireless and NTT DoCoMo. Lucent is currently involved in an LTE trial with Verizon Wireless and NEC is working with NTT DoCoMo on its Super G LTE trial.
The two companies say they will contribute equally to the R&D budget for this collaboration and it will be jointly managed. However both companies will be responsible for the fulfillment and execution of their network technology with their respective customers.
It's certainly an offensive move given the fact the LTE landscape is expected to be even more competitive than current generation competition. Chinese vendors like Huawei and ZTE are vying to get a strong hold in the global infrastructure market.
To read more about Alcatel-Lucent and NEC joining forces for LTE:
- check out this release