Watch the Alcatel-Lucent and Intel Interview!

WiMAX Showcase at MWC ’09
At Mobile World Congress ’09 in Barcelona, Alcatel-Lucent underlined its commitment to WiMAX with a major presence at the WiMAX Ecosystem booth organized by its strategic partner, Intel. In this interview, Tim Sweeney, WiMAX Applications & Technical Marketing, Intel, and Hyam Bolande, Wireless Networks Marketing, Alcatel-Lucent, discuss broad deployments of local WiMAX around the globe.

Consumers are demanding ubiquitous, always-on broadband connectivity at low cost everywhere. Born from our extensive experience in broadband and wireless communications, and based on the latest IEEE 802.16e-2005 standard, Alcatel-Lucent WiMAX is the answer. It addresses the needs of high-end users through seamless broadband mobility with a single subscription and device, as well as the needs of users in remote areas of high growth economies who are eager to connect to the telephone and the Internet for the first time.

New Opportunities
From an operator standpoint, Universal WiMAX (802.16e-2005 or Rev-e) is a flexible broadband access technology that opens new market opportunities in:

High-growth economies: where WiMAX can deliver High-Speed Internet (HSI) access and telephony services -- via voice over IP (VoIP) -- in rural and urban environments where copper is not available, and also can meet the needs of high-end users in urban settings.

Mature economies: marked by high penetration of telecom services, where WiMAX allows operators to offer their customers advanced broadband services (i.e., video, gaming, office access) "on the go" and help address holes in broadband coverage. WiMAX also offers new entrants an efficient way to penetrate the telecom market and challenge incumbent operators.

An End-to-End Solution
The Alcatel-Lucent End-to-End IP Wireless-Broadband Solution for WiMAX is the industry's first comprehensive package of WiMAX infrastructure and services for launching a WiMAX business. Fully integrated and tested, it helps operators quickly and profitably roll out broadband Internet and voice services today, while getting ready for future high-speed growth and development, including mobile interactive multimedia services. The end-to-end architecture combines Alcatel-Lucent's leadership in WiMAX radio and broadband IP networking.

The cost-effective and comprehensive package allows operators to prepare for the next wave of challenges:

• Sharply scaling up subscribers and traffic without losing control over QoS/QoE or over operating expenditure
• Adapting the service offer to mobility and a new breed of handheld and pocket devices
• Moving up the value chain by introducing rich multimedia services with high stickiness

Innovation
Alcatel-Lucent is able to deploy a fully integrated end-to-end offer based on new technology expertise (i.e., IMS, backhaul, Mobile TV, Advanced Antenna Technologies etc.), a complete professional services portfolio and well-recognized project management and support.

Open for Business
Alcatel-Lucent is strongly committed to ecosystem openness (i.e., applications and CPEs). That's why Alcatel-Lucent has implemented an Open CPE Program. We have established WiMAX interoperability (IOT) centers in several regions and opened a global network of Executive Briefing Centers (EBC) where the end-to-end solution, including terminals, is demonstrated alongside Alcatel-Lucent's broad solutions portfolio.

Leadership
Alcatel-Lucent has been an early believer in WiMAX, and maintains its technological leadership thanks to a strong involvement in its development, since 2004. Most recent successes include several world premieres:

• Opening of the first WiMAX Rev-e commercial network in the 3.5 GHz spectrum band
• First mobile handoffs on a WiMAX Rev-e commercial network in the 3.5 GHz spectrum band
• Demonstration of the first solution for seamless WiMAX-GSM/EDGE dual-mode services