China Mobile has awarded a contract to build its TD-LTE trial network to Alcatel-Lucent. China Mobile’s large-scale TD-LTE trial will take place in six major Chinese cities: Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Xiamen and Beijing. Alcatel-Lucent’s solution successfully passed interoperability tests required by the Chinese government in both 2.3 GHz and 2.6 GHz frequency bands with two major terminal suppliers.

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today announced it has been selected by China Mobile to participate to the world’s largest 4G TD-LTE trial network deployment in China. This qualification follows successful completion of various interoperability tests which started from January 2010 as required by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information (MIIT) and China Mobile. Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell, Alcatel-Lucent’s flagship company in China is one of the first suppliers to have successfully achieved this key milestone and will be deploying its end-to-end LTE solution for China Mobile’s large-scale 4G TD-LTE trial in the city of Shanghai.

Covering 6 major Chinese cities, namely Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Xiamen, and recently extended to Beijing, this large scale TD-LTE trial will help China Mobile to provide a wide range of high speed mobile broadband services to its subscribers, such as high definition video, 3D gaming, FTP transmission and high speed Internet. It will also enable new industries with LTE connectivity like automotive industry and multi-industry ecosystem development thanks to initiatives pioneered by Alcatel-Lucent through the ng Connect Program launched two years ago.
Rajeev Singh-Molares, president of Alcatel-Lucent’s activities in Asia-Pacific said: “This is a major accomplishment for Alcatel-Lucent and clearly reinforces our leading position in China and our global leadership in LTE. We are committed to provide China Mobile with the most advanced LTE solution for the world’s largest TD-LTE trial and to demonstrate the maturity and cost-effectiveness of our solution for TD-LTE which is emerging as the 4G standard for TDD spectrum globally. The successful interoperability tests with terminal suppliers further demonstrate our commitment to create an open TD-LTE ecosystem that will participate in the broader global LTE value chain.”

The tests were conducted in both 2.3GHz and 2.6GHz frequency bands for indoor and outdoor deployments and relied on Alcatel-Lucent’s industry-leading LTE expertise to provide an end-to-end integrated solution including LTE base stations (eNodeBs), the Evolved Packet Core (EPC). Alcatel-Lucent’s solution successfully passed interoperability tests with two major terminal suppliers.

Alcatel-Lucent is a key partner of China Mobile on TD-LTE and next generation wireless networks initiatives and evolution programs. During the 2010 Shanghai World Expo Alcatel-Lucent supported China Mobile in the first large-scale TD-LTE trial network deployment delivering advanced mobile services including ultra high speed Internet access and High Definition TV (HDTV). Most recently, at Mobile World Congress, Alcatel-Lucent and China Mobile demonstrated with Audi, a variety of in-vehicle high-value applications that worked seamlessly on a converged Time Division Duplex (TDD) and Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) network ensuring seamless global coverageand the ability to benefit from a common LTE ecosystem across both modes. Alcatel-Lucent and China Mobile are partnering to develop next-generation radio access network based on Alcatel-Lucent’s lightRadio, a groundbreaking innovation to prepare wireless networks to handle the explosive growth in demand for wireless broadband services while making the networks more eco friendly.

Having been selected so far by twelve customers for commercial deployments -- including two of the world’s largest service providers -- and being involved in over 60 trials worldwide –- including thirteen LTE TDD trials in seven countries -- Alcatel-Lucent has established a strong leadership position in LTE.

About Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU)

The long-trusted partner of service providers, enterprises, strategic industries and governments around the world, Alcatel-Lucent is a leader in mobile, fixed, IP and Optics technologies, and a pioneer in applications and services. Alcatel-Lucent includes Bell Labs, one of the world's foremost centres of research and innovation in communications technology.

With operations in more than 130 countries and one of the most experienced global services organizations in the industry, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with global reach.