Alcatel-Lucent announced the expansion of its market- leading Mobile Evolution Transport Architecture with the introduction of new hardware and software innovations for its IP/MPLS service router portfolio. This trend is forecast to accelerate over the coming months and years with the increasing availability of even more bandwidth-intensive and time-sensitive applications such as mobile TV, and interactive video gaming.

    Mobile applications are becoming more and more ubiquitous and indispensable for subscribers in their daily lives, with users today increasingly using applications such as Web surfing, multimedia messaging, photo sharing and video streaming on their mobile handsets. These innovations smooth the way for the delivery of next- generation mobile services by enabling operators worldwide to construct highly resilient, enduring network infrastructures that provide greater flexibility and efficiency as networks evolve from 2G to 3G and beyond, ultimately offering truly broadband capabilities on the go.

    To meet this anticipated demand, mobile operators must provide the greater bandwidth and improved resiliency these services require. The enhancements to Alcatel-Lucent's IP/MPLS portfolio address these requirements through dramatic improvements in network efficiency, capacity, density, reliability and resiliency. Among the key beneficiaries of these enhancements to Alcatel-Lucent's IP/MPLS portfolio are operators of CDMA-based mobile networks, who are looking for ways to simplify and consolidate their legacy radio access network backhaul infrastructures in order to reduce operational complexity and total cost of ownership.

    "Packet transformation of mobile transport networks will emerge as a major theme in 2008," said Mark Seery, vice president, Switching and Routing, Ovum RHK. "The mobile network environment remains a complicated multi-protocol environment requiring quality, reliability, and segment specific features. Alcatel-Lucent's combination of experience in mobile transport networks and its successful IP/MPLS product portfolio position it well for this opportunity."

    The capabilities announced today in the 7710/7750 SR platforms enable the consolidation of multiple pairs of aggregation routers and multi-layer switches into a single pair of Service Routers - significantly reducing operational complexity. As a result, CDMA operators are able to reduce their footprint and power consumption, and hence their operating costs.

    "In order to profitably deploy new broadband wireless services that can help them differentiate themselves from their competitors, mobile carriers are beginning to invest in the transformation of their network infrastructures by migrating to a more robust and scalable converged IP/MPLS backbone," stated Basil Alwan, president of Alcatel-Lucent's IP activities. "Alcatel-Lucent continues to lead the market with a comprehensive IP/MPLS service router portfolio that is optimized for mobile network environments, now further enhanced with a best-in-class feature set built to deliver an end-to-end mobile IP/MPLS backhaul solution that enables network convergence and evolution."