Alcatel is banking on the next generation of wireless systems to make inroads in the U.S. Global System for Mobile communications market.
With a GSM foothold in Europe and several General Packet Radio Service trials running there, the French manufacturer decided to enter the U.S. GSM market three months ago.
“We have been so successful with our base-station product line and consider ourselves the leader in the GPRS market,” said David Island, Alcatel’s vice president of sales for wireless in the U.S. market. “U.S. operators are telling me that GPRS is in the forefront of their strategy to lead the market. Alcatel wants to be a part of that.”
Alcatel plans to penetrate this market by offering a base station that is software-upgradable to GPRS, EDGE and ultimately UMTS. Though other vendors like L.M. Ericsson and Nokia have introduced such products, Alcatel believes its base stations incorporate improved technology, such as lower power output that allows carriers to set up a smaller amount of base-station sites, said Island. U.S. GSM carriers still have many markets to build, and Alcatel is hoping to gain some of that business.
“Even though it’s difficult for carriers to justify looking at a new vendor, they certainly are looking at the product,” said Island. “Alcatel wants to become one of the vendors involved in the migration to third generation. We need to get involved in the second-generation first.”
