Alcatel-Lucent to accelerate deployment of Etisalat's UAE FTTH network

JANUARY 11, 2010 -- Alcatel-Lucent has been selected by Etisalat, the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) leading telecommunications service provider, to speed up the deployment of its nationwide FTTH network. In this multimillion euro deal, Etisalat will utilize Alcatel-Lucent's GPON technology to connect 50,000 households and business customers.

Etisalat will use Alcatel-Lucent's GPON platform to provide residential and business customers with simultaneous access to several high-definition (HD) TV channels and a video-on-demand (VOD) library, while enabling them to surf the Internet up to 16 times faster.

"Etisalat is always keen to stay at the forefront of innovation in order to constantly provide our customers with the most attractive and advanced telecoms services. Etisalat's FTTH roll-out in the UAE -- branded eLife -- positions Abu Dhabi to become the first capital city in the world with 100% fiber deployment by the end of this year. UAE will be one of the first countries in the world to have a nationwide fiber optics coverage by 2011," says Essa Al Haddad, chief marketing officer for Etisalat UAE.

"This contract is a key milestone for Alcatel-Lucent as it further strengthens our prominent position in the global -- and UAE -- FTTH market," adds Amr El Leithy, president of Alcatel-Lucent's business in the Middle East and Africa. "We are fully committed to continue leveraging this leadership to help our customers transform their networks cost-effectively -- catering to the surge of end-users' bandwidth requirements, closely linked to today's converged multimedia trend."

Alcatel-Lucent will deploy its 7342 Intelligent Services Access Manager fiber-to-the-user (ISAM FTTU) GPON-based platform, and the related 5520 Access Management System. The company also is supplying a range of optical network terminals (ONTs) to install at the end users' premises, and will provide Etisalat with its professional services, including project management, installation, commissioning, and training.


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