Wind chooses Alcatel-Lucent for optical and IP network upgrade

Italian mobile and fixed network services provider Wind Telecomunicazioni has chosen Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) to supply IP and fiber-optic network technology to upgrade the carrier’s nationwide communication networks. The infrastructure facelift will entail long-haul optical transport, mobile backhaul, metro area network (MAN), and IP service edge technology.

“This agreement confirms our commitment to deliver services with high efficiency and functionality to our customers, by developing the telecommunication infrastructure in Italy,” asserts Nicola Grassi, CTO at Wind Telecomunicazioni. “The continuous evolution of our transport network is of paramount importance to our strategy, which aims to provide an effective and intelligent answer to the new phase of communications, already characterized by a real data explosion, particularly in mobility, with the objective of keeping on offering the best value/price ratio. That is what distinguishes our positioning.”

Alcatel-Lucent will support 100G coherent transmission through delivery of its 1830 Photonic Service Switch; the system’s 400G Photonic Service Engine will provide a path for future capacity expansion. The systems house also will supply its 1850 Transport Service Switch to enhance Wind’s mobile backhaul infrastructure, as well as the 7750 Service Router for aggregating traffic in the metro areas and as the IP service edge platform.

Said Nicolas Bouverot, Vimpelcom global account director, “Within the Vimpelcom Group, Wind is well recognized due to its market success and because it fosters innovative technology to stay ahead of customer demand. Embracing Alcatel-Lucent’s 100G, transport, and IP/MPLS technology to cope with mobile broadband services evolution is a prime example of the operator’s deep understanding of this market.”

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