Vodacom and Alcatel-Lucent yesterday put pen to paper in a network upgrade agreement valued at 22 million euros - around R277 million at the current exchange rate.
In an official statement released last night, the international converged network provider says it will design, implement and deploy an upgrade to Vodacom's 3G network.
According to the statement, upgrades will be based on Alcatel-Lucent's universal mobile telecommunications systems and HSDPA/HSUPA technologies. Alcatel-Lucent says the new technology is expected to increase the quality of voice services and increase indoor reception for customers.
The global company adds the solution will support standards ranging from GSM and Edge+ through to LTE technology (4G). It adds the upgrades will boost the capacity and coverage spectrum of Vodacom's current 3G network.
What about Siemens?
ITWeb asked Vodacom whether Alcatel-Lucent's new technology would roll-out alongside the Siemens offerings, or if it would be a replacement technology for the hardware that has already been implemented. However, Vodacom declined to comment outside of the official release published by Alcatel-Lucent.
The company also declined to indicate the period of the contract, or what impact the roll-out of the new products would have on customers.
In 2005, Vodacom set aside R1.5 billion for its 3G network, which was officially launched in SA in 2006. At the time, Vodacom announced Siemens was its preferred technology partner for the network.
The company also used Siemens to deploy its 3G network in Tanzania last year. Siemens could not be reached for comment at the time of publication.
Links and ties
In May, Alcatel-Lucent signed an agreement with Vodacom's future majority shareholder, Vodafone, to support its networks. The agreement with the UK-based mobile provider includes maintenance, upgrades and technical enhancements by Alcatel-Lucent.
Vodacom's decision comes in the wake of MTN's announcement of a dedicated R7.1 billion to upgrade its networks. While the majority of the funding on MTN's part will be put towards the roll-out of a fibre backhaul, some has also been set aside to improve speed and coverage.
The investments include a complete core network evaluation, upgrades to its HSPA network and its greenfield BTS site roll-out. MTN made the upgrade announcement at the end of June.
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