Etisalat Group signs 4G LTE agreements including Sri Lanka with Alcatel-Lucent

BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Mobile World Congress -- Etisalat and Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris andNYSE: ALU) signed a joint agreement to extend Etisalat's LTE coverage across its footprint including a new partnership in Sri Lanka.

By deploying Alcatel-Lucent's lightRadio™ solution for this extension, Etisalat is taking this joint business collaboration to the next level to develop the most efficient and sustainable means to deliver 4G LTE-FDD (fourth generation long-term evolution frequency-division duplexing) network and high speed mobile broadband to Etisalat's subscribers.

The agreements were signed Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar, CEO at Etisalat Group and Ben Verwaayan, CEO at Alcatel Lucent and by Dumindra Ratnayaka, CEO at Etisalat Lanka and Rajeev Singh-Molares, President, Alcatel-Lucent Asia Pacific.

Etisalat is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the Middle East, operating in 15 countries and serving over 139 million subscribers. Under this new business relationship with Alcatel-Lucent, Etisalat marks a major milestone in turning a promise into a reality highlighting how it can meet fast-growing customer demand for high-bandwidth mobile broadband services. With the new LTE extension Etisalat subscribers will have the opportunity to experience an unbeatable mobile broadband that can accommodate multimedia applications such as video conferencing, high definition content transmission and high speed video downloads from social networks.

In preparation for the forthcoming award of LTE licenses in Sri Lanka, Etisalat has signed an agreement with Alcatel Lucent to ensure the operator's service roll out is as fast as the speeds promised by LTE technologies. Etisalat Lanka already offers the fastest mobile broadband experience in Sri Lanka and through LTE will bring broadband connectivity across the country.

Dumindra Ratnayaka, CEO at Etisalat Lanka said: "Etisalat Sri Lanka being in the fore front of the High-Speed Mobile Broadband Market, launched DC-HSPA+ technology last August. Customers thrive on fast and reliable connectivity and depend on our technology to run their businesses and manage their interests. This joint business collaboration with Alcatel-Lucent will enable our customers to experience cutting-edge broadband connectivity in terms of fast Internet access, mobile TV applications, video streaming and video calls. The mobile broadband infrastructure expertise Alcatel-Lucent brings in, assures Etisalat to deliver revolutionary 4G LTE services to our customers.  We at Etisalat strive to provide services that are fast, safe and meaningful to our customers and society."

Rajeev Singh-Molares, President, Alcatel-Lucent Asia Pacific, said: "Alcatel-Lucent has been instrumental in providing Etisalat Lanka the network solutions, backed by Bell Labs technology, to ensure their success - from 3G and now progressing to 4G LTE.  The fact that roughly 95 percent of the population currently has a wireless device means that Sri Lanka is both a very exciting and very competitive marketplace. Their selection of Alcatel-Lucent underscores their continued confidence in rapidly getting to 4G LTE that they can deliver the expected high speeds and quality that customers have come to expect from Etisalat Lanka."

About Etisalat
Strong commitment to excellence and innovation has seen Etisalat become one of the world's fastest-growing telecom groups, rapidly expanding across Asia and Africa. Its UAE operations, strategically located at the crossroads of East and West, enables Etisalat to be the major hub in the Middle East for Internet, voice, broadcast, roaming and corporate data services. Etisalat has been recognised as 'Best Operator' 10 times since 2006 and 'Best Wholesale Provider' four times in the last three years. Servicing over 139 million customers in 15 countries Etisalat continues to reach out to new customers and markets.

Please visit Etisalat at Mobile World Congress in Hall 2, Stand #2B110.

ABOUT ALCATEL-LUCENT (EURONEXT PARIS ANDNYSE: ALU)
The long-trusted partner of service providers, enterprises and governments around the world, Alcatel-Lucent is a leading innovator in the field of networking and communications technology, products and services. The company is home to Bell Labs, one of the world's foremost research centers, responsible for breakthroughs that have shaped the networking and communications industry.

Alcatel-Lucent innovations are regularly recognized by international institutions for their positive impact on society. In 2012 and for the second year running, Alcatel-Lucent was named one of the Thomson Reuters Top 100 Global Innovators, recognition for the company's continued addition to its world-class patent portfolio, one of the largest in the telecom industry. Alcatel-Lucent has also been recognized for its sustainability performance. In 2012 the company was ranked Technology Supersector Leader by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. Through its innovations, Alcatel-Lucent is making communications more sustainable, more affordable and more accessible as we pursue our mission of Realizing the Potential of a Connected World.

With operations throughout the world, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with global reach. The Company achieved revenues of Euro 14.4 billion in 2012 and is incorporated in France and headquartered in Paris.

For more information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com, read the latest posts on the Alcatel-Lucent blog http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/blog and follow the Company on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Alcatel_Lucent.

Please visit Alcatel-Lucent at Mobile World Congress in Hall 3, Stand #3B114.

SOURCE Alcatel-Lucent