Etisalat and Alcatel-Lucent today signed a joint agreement to extend Etisalat’s long-term evolution (LTE) coverage across its footprint, including a new partnership in Sri Lanka.
By deploying Alcatel-Lucent’s lightRadio solution for this extension, Etisalat is taking the joint business collaboration to the next level deliver 4G LTE-FDD (frequency-division duplexing) network and high speed mobile broadband to its subscribers.
The agreements were signed at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona by Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar, CEO, Etisalat Group, and Ben Verwaayan, CEO, Alcatel Lucent, and by Dumindra Ratnayaka, CEO, Etisalat Lanka, and Rajeev Singh-Molares, President, Alcatel-Lucent Asia Pacific.
Under this new business relationship with Alcatel-Lucent and with the new LTE extension, Etisalat subscribers will have the opportunity to experience mobile broadband that can accommodate multimedia applications such as video conferencing, high definition content transmission and high speed video downloads from social networks.
In preparation for the forthcoming award of LTE licenses in Sri Lanka, Etisalat has signed an agreement with Alcatel Lucent to ensure the operator’s service roll out is as fast as the speeds promised by LTE technologies. Etisalat Lanka already offers the fastest mobile broadband experience in Sri Lanka and through LTE will bring broadband connectivity across the country.
“Etisalat Sri Lanka being in the fore front of the High-Speed Mobile Broadband Market, launched DC-HSPA+ technology last August,” Ratnayaka said. “Customers thrive on fast and reliable connectivity and depend on our technology to run their businesses and manage their interests.
“This joint business collaboration with Alcatel-Lucent will enable our customers to experience cutting-edge broadband connectivity in terms of fast Internet access, mobile TV applications, video streaming and video calls. The mobile broadband infrastructure expertise Alcatel-Lucent brings in, assures Etisalat to deliver revolutionary 4G LTE services to our customers. We at Etisalat strive to provide services that are fast, safe and meaningful to our customers and society.”
Singh-Molares added: “Alcatel-Lucent has been instrumental in providing Etisalat Lanka the network solutions, backed by Bell Labs technology, to ensure their success – from 3G and now progressing to 4G LTE. The fact that roughly 95 percent of the population currently has a wireless device means that Sri Lanka is both a very exciting and very competitive marketplace. Their selection of Alcatel-Lucent underscores their continued confidence in rapidly getting to 4G LTE that they can deliver the expected high speeds and quality that customers have come to expect from Etisalat Lanka.”
