By Alcatel-Lucent Press Release
Mobile World Congress Barcelona, February 16, 2009 – Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today announced that it has received the WiMAX Forum CertifiedTM seal of approval for the 3.5GHz band version of its WiMAX Rev-e (802.16-2005 standard) compact base station. This achievement is recognition of the high quality and reliability of the company’s WiMAXTM equipment.
“We’re pleased to certify Alcatel-Lucent’s equipment in the 3.5GHz band, particularly given that breadth of the company’s presence in WiMAX deployments worldwide in this frequency,” said Ron Resnick, the president and chairman of the WiMAX Forum. “The company’s solution met all specifications in a series of tests at the labs of AT4 wireless, surpassing the WiMAX Forum’s stringent certification requirements.”
The certification reinforces Alcatel-Lucent’s leadership position in WiMAX globally and in particular in the 3.5 GHz band, where the vendor has a commanding share of Rev-e network contracts awarded to date worldwide. Out of 34 Alcatel-Lucent Rev-e commercial deployments worldwide, 21 are in the 3.5GHz band, and seven of these are already in commercial service. Key to its commercial success has been implementation of advanced technologies such as beam forming, which extends cell range and thus reduces operators’ deployment costs.
This new milestone follows the WiMAX Forum’s certification of Alcatel-Lucent’s 2.5GHz base station portfolio last summer and marks a significant step toward the certification of the company’s entire portfolio of WiMAX solutions.
“Alcatel-Lucent is proud to receive WiMAX Forum Certification, which acknowledges the development efforts we’ve made over the last four and a half years,” said Paul Larbey, Head of the Next Generation Mobile Access activities for Alcatel-Lucent.”Thanks to our rigorous R&D process and our unique Open Device Program, customers can be confident that Alcatel-Lucent’s WiMAX equipment will interoperate with any WiMAX Forum® certified device.”
Alcatel-Lucent is the commercial leader in WiMAX Rev-e, having shipped more than 10,000 Rev-e base stations and installed equipment that already supports tens of thousands of paying subscribers.
In December, Alcatel-Lucent announced that it was refocusing its WiMAX R&D efforts on the technology’s dominant market opportunity, enhanced wireless DSL – which includes data-centric mobility usage on netbooks and mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) as well as residential and nomadic PC use. Alcatel-Lucent market research indicates that close to 90% of WiMAX Rev-e subscribers to 2013 will fall in this service category.
Prior to certification, Alcatel-Lucent’s infrastructure portfolio as a whole already strictly complied with the Rev-e standard. The company guarantees strict alignment of features and compliance in all three recognized frequencies as part of its global WiMAX strategy. The company’s “Open Device Program” helped pave the way for certification ensuring interoperability testing between Alcatel-Lucent infrastructure and WiMAX chipsets and end-user devices from diverse players.
Currently the WiMAX Forum® has more than 500 member companies including service providers, regulators, equipment vendors, chip vendors and content providers. Alcatel-Lucent is a member of the WiMAX Forum® board. It is also a founding member of the Open Patent Alliance, formed with other key industry players to advance WiMAX technology through more transparent intellectual property rights.
