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Alcatel today announced that it has been selected by Qatar Telecom (Qtel), the telecommunications provider in Qatar, to carry out a part of its 3G/UMTS radio network deployment in Qatar. This 3G deployment will allow Qtel to be fully operational for the provision of new state-of-the art 3G services to the athletes coming from 45 participating countries during the 15th Asian Games Doha 2006 in Qatar, the second largest sporting event after the Olympic Games.

Alcatel has already supplied Qtel with its Evolium mobile radio access solution for its GSM/GPRS commercial service. With this new contract, Alcatel will further provide Qtel with the Evolium 3G/UMTS radio access solution designed and developed by Evolium SAS, Alcatel's joint venture with Fujitsu. Alcatel will introduce the UMTS capability in Qtel's network by an upgrade of the operator's existing GSM/GPRS network in selected coverage areas.

Under this agreement, Qtel will be able to offer its subscribers new, innovative and multimedia high speed 3G/UMTS services, such as video telephony between multimedia terminals (voice, pictures and video), videoconferencing, high speed data, video streaming, music downloading, web browsing, chat and on-line gaming.

Furthermore, Alcatel's world-class multi-standard Evolium platform designed for GSM/GPRS/EDGE, 3G/UMTS and HSDPA will allow Qtel to seamlessly introduce HSDPA, a technology bringing a similar leap forward for UMTS as EDGE does for GSM in terms of data transmission speed and capacity, using the same infrastructure technology thanks to a simple software upgrade only.

"As the official telecommunications partner for the 15th Asian Games Doha 2006, our partnership with experienced companies like Alcatel highlights our commitment to providing our customers with the latest state-of-the-art telecoms services, " said Dr. Nasser Marafih, Chief Executive Officer at Qtel. "Alcatel, a company with whom we share a strong relationship, along with our other partners, will help us in our mission to ensure the availability of fast, reliable and secure services for the thousands of tourists, guests and athletes coming to Qatar who can all enjoy the benefits of using our 3G services."

Marc Rouanne, chief operating officer of Alcatel's mobile communications activities added, "This new agreement further strengthens Alcatel's partnership with Qtel, one of the most active operators in the Middle East. This contract reinforces Alcatel's strong position in the region, both for fixed and mobile technologies. Alcatel is committed to work hand in hand with Qtel to deliver the best 3G services to all participants in the Doha 2006 Asian Games."