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Lucent Technologies today unveiled its High-Speed Data for the Mass Market (HSDmm) offer, an end-to-end solution incorporating infrastructure, revenue-generating applications, multi-vendor OSS software, professional services and marketing programs - designed to help mobile operators meet pent-up consumer demand for personalized, life-style enhancing multimedia services. The HSDmm offer will enable mobile operators to grow revenue by blending traditional voice services with the high-speed data capabilities of third-generation (3G) mobile networks, such as multimedia messaging, streaming video and voice over IP (VoIP).

The HSDmm offer builds on Lucent's success in helping mobile operators deliver profitable, business focused high-speed data services to enterprise customers. Lucent's HSDmm solutions will help mobile operators leverage their 3G data networks - which are already serving enterprise customers - to deliver consumer-focused services that can help expand their customer base and offer new sources of revenue.

The HSDmm offer is based on Lucent's Accelerate(TM) IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) solution, part of Lucent's recently announced Accelerate(TM) Voice over IP (VoIP) Solutions portfolio.

"This offer represents the second phase of Lucent's market driven 3G strategy, which is focused on understanding the needs of end users, and then using this understanding to develop innovative and reliable solutions that enable service providers to satisfy them in a cost-effective and profitable manner," said John Marinho, vice president of offer management, Lucent Mobility Solutions Group. "Lucent's HSDmm solution features marketing support and business modeling services designed to help mobile operators more accurately target particular customer segments with lifestyle services tailored to their individual needs and interests. We believe that Lucent's approach is unique in the marketplace."

The Mass Market for Mobile High-Speed Data Services

As part of this market driven approach, Lucent has conducted substantial primary research to identify applications and services that will appeal to particular consumer segments. Lucent also is partnering with an "eco-system" of application developers to create new services, and working with mobile operators to test these applications prior to market launch, establishing test-beds in select markets - called "consumer lab cities" - to trial innovative services with consumers and applications developers. This will help ensure that these services will be ideally positioned to succeed in the marketplace when launched to a broader subscriber base. Lucent also will partner with mobile operators to bring these new high-speed data services to market by helping to develop marketing programs targeted at key consumer segments.

Lucent's research and customer trials have identified several categories of services that consumers feel add value to their lives. One of the key findings of the research was that consumers are looking for "lifestyle-enhancing" services that make it easier for them to complete the tasks they have to perform on a daily basis, saving them time or adding convenience to their lives. The research also concluded that the services that consumers are seeking combine voice and data content into a seamless user experience. Mobile operators that can meet this consumer interest - and offer services that consumers will regard as indispensable elements of their daily lives - will be ideally situated to acquire and retain subscribers, and drive increased revenue-generating traffic on their network.

HSDmm Service Offerings

The HSDmm offer and underlying Accelerate IMS solution make it possible for mobile operators to offer "mixed media" services - the real-time interaction of voice, data and video via IP technology - working across various types of networks including 3G mobile, WiFi and wireline.

With IMS, communication services can be enhanced with data such as presence, availability, and location of contacts and buddies, extending existing instant messaging services across multiple network types, and integrated with other services. Contact information also can be enriched with data on the type of device an individual is using, and whether they can access services such as picture messaging, push-to-speak, or instant messaging. They could even find out if their friend is able and willing to play an on-line game.

Using IMS, users also can enrich their voice communication with multimedia information. For example, text, pictures, video, audio, schedule, presence, availability, and/or location information can be sent and received during a voice call. Cumbersome voice navigation through call centers can be greatly simplified by creating a visual "automated attendant" which leads to a human voice at the end of the menu. Services will not be limited by voice and data separation as they are today.

IMS-based services can also make it easier for groups of people to collaborate. For instance, a group of friends could plan a night out to the movies by shared viewing of selected movie trailers to choose what to see and purchase tickets from the theater's web site, check a video feed of the local traffic to find out the quickest way to get to the theater, and use the voice browsing service to help them navigate to the theater.