Alcatel-Lucent has won a EUR22 million (US$30 million) contract from South Africa’s Vodacom to design, build and deploy an upgrade of its existing 3G network. The enhanced 3G wireless network will improve Vodacom’s network voice-quality and data-transmission speeds, while further strengthening indoor coverage in urban areas.
Under the terms of the contract, Alcatel-Lucent will supply Vodacom with its UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), based on an evolving multi-standard radio access solution, including radio network controllers, node B base stations and a flexible wireless network management system.
Alcatel-Lucent will also provide a comprehensive suite of professional services in conjunction with this expansion contract, including installation, commissioning, program management, on-site training, network rollout and integration.
“Achieving an improved end-user experience with superior mobile voice and high-speed mobile broadband data services is our key objective in expanding our 3G network,” said Andries Delport, Executive Director – Engineering and Technology, Vodacom South Africa. “Continuing to provide our customers with the highest quality of innovative mobile services requires us to partner with a reliable partner such as Alcatel-Lucent, which has a proven track-record in technology innovation. This project will also provide us with the ability to leverage the investment we have in our existing network to meet the growing demand of our customers for advanced services.”
Vodacom ended the first half of this year with just under 22.2 million customers – which the Mobile World subscriber tracker notes represents a market share of 51.4%.
