Telecoms equipment vendor Alcatel-Lucent has revealed a new mobile backhaul solution that enables mobile network operators to seamlessly support ‘AnyG’ (2G, 3G and LTE) radio access technologies.
Alcatel-Lucent has also moved into the No 1 market share position with 23pc of worldwide Ethernet cell site gateway and router revenue for the first half of 2010, according to data published by Infonetics, who recorded 231pc year-over-year growth.
This, combined with significant customer momentum gained over the last year, reinforces Alcatel-Lucent’s solid position in mobile backhaul, LTE and overall strength in wireless IP.
In the recently published report, Mobile Backhaul Equipment and Services, Infonetics details the booming growth in the mobile backhaul IP/Ethernet equipment market and reports that Alcatel-Lucent leads for the second year in a row with router sales in this space.
Alcatel-Lucent marked its entrance into this burgeoning market three years ago with the introduction of its mobile transport architecture, both anticipating the evolution to an all IP mobile infrastructure and the requirement to support LTE.
Today, Alcatel-Lucent is introducing the 7705 Service Aggregation Router (SAR)-18 to its extensive mobile backhaul portfolio, along with robust end-to-end, unified network and policy management from the Radio Access Network (RAN) to the packet core, for simplified network integration, trouble shooting and rapid service deployment.
The new technologies are enabling mobile network operators to cost effectively manage exploding subscriber data traffic brought on by smartphones and the thousands of applications and video content running on them.
High leverage network architecture
The Alcatel-Lucent mobile backhaul solution is part of the company’s high leverage network (HLN) architecture, which enables service providers to leverage their network assets to deliver new revenue-generating services, while also reducing the cost per bit for basic transport.
“Alcatel-Lucent’s ‘Any G to LTE’ enhancements, which are in line with the company’s HLN architecture, strongly reaffirm the company is extending the portfolio in the right direction and is committed to making investments in key areas, such as converged IP/MPLS, microwave and management. With this announcement, Alcatel-Lucent can make a strong case for a leadership position in mobile backhaul with a string of customers to back them up.”
To date, Alcatel-Lucent is involved in more than 50 LTE trials and has won seven LTE contracts worldwide. Alcatel-Lucent has also performed more than 200 mobile network migrations, more than 50 mobile backhaul integrations and more than 70 IP transformations worldwide.
Ethernet mobile backhaul
“In 2010, we expect Ethernet mobile backhaul to increase 8pc year on year to $5.2B, making up 88pc of total backhaul equipment spending, with the biggest growth from Ethernet cell site routers, which grew 231pc and microwave Ethernet, at 367pc over 2008,” said Michael Howard, principal analyst and co-founder of Infonetics Research.
“Since last year, we’ve seen a significant shift in thinking by mobile operators and transport providers around the world who have come to trust IP-Ethernet more, and are now fully engaged in deploying and planning IP/Ethernet backhaul as the single backhaul to carry voice, data and video traffic for 2G, 3G, WiMAX and LTE. In the important Ethernet cell site gateway and router category, Alcatel-Lucent held onto its No 1 position with 23pc of 1H2010 worldwide revenue.”
