14 DAY TRIAL // Alcatel-Lucent announced that it has completed the first phase of the project with Mobitel, a subsidiary of VimpelCom, to deploy a new mobile network in Georgia. The contract between Mobitel and Alcatel-Lucent was signed in September 2006.
As part of the first phase of the project, Alcatel-Lucent deployed a new mobile GSM/GPRS/EDGE network covering Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, while preparing for the introduction of 3G/UMTS and/or WiMAX. Implementation of the first phase has enabled Mobitel to commercially launch its services to subscribers in Georgia. Once the project is completed, Alcatel-Lucent's mobile solutions will enable Mobitel to provide advanced mobile communications services to subscribers throughout Georgia.
Under the terms of the contract, Alcatel-Lucent delivered its Alcatel-Lucent Evolium GSM/GPRS/EDGE end-to-end solutions, including Base Station Sub-systems (BSS), NGN-based Mobile Switching Centers (NSS) as well as operation and maintenance support services. Alcatel-Lucent also delivered a high-availability IP/MPLS network based on the Alcatel 7710 Service Router.
"Georgia is an important market for our company, and we hope to win a leading position in this market. We are glad that we managed to commercially launch a new network within a short time frame," said Sergey Avdeev, executive vice-president on business development in CIS and chief technical officer of VimpelCom. "Thanks to Alcatel-Lucent experience in turnkey end-to-end projects we are able to offer already today to the customers in Georgia advanced communication services."
Alcatel-Lucent is one of the main suppliers of advanced mobile communication solutions in Russia and in the CIS, a position the company established in 1994 when it introduced the first Russian GSM network in the city of Nizhniy Novgorod.