The following list details this week’s infrastructure awards for the cellular and Wi-Fi industries. The contracts are broken down by transmission technology, country and vendor. The value of the contract is included when available.
Cellular
- Brazil: Motorola Inc. said it has been selected by Vivo to expand the carrier’s CDMA 3G EV-DO network.
- Europe: T-Mobile International AG announced it has launched commercial HSDPA service with equipment supplied by Nokia Corp. in Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
- Germany: Vodafone announced the commercial launch of its HSDPA networks in Hanover, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and Munich that use equipment provided by L.M. Ericsson.
- Russia: Lucent Technologies Inc. said it has partnered with Sky Link, a holding company established to develop a nationwide CDMA450 network in Russia. Lucent will supply equipment to expand and upgrade Sky Link’s network in Belgorod, Volgograd, Vologda, Vladimir, Kursk, Lipetsk, and Tver regions, Krasnodar and Altai territories, and in the North Ossetia-Alania Republic. Separately, Alcatel Inc. announced a contract with Sakhatelecom to deploy a next-generation network in the Republic of Sakha, also known as Yakutiya. Terms of the agreement were not released, but Alcatel said the project is scheduled to begin during the second quarter and be completed by the end of the year.
- Thailand: Nokia said it will expand GSM/GPRS/EDGE network coverage for Total Access Communication Plc as part of an existing agreement.
- United Arab Emirates: Nokia said it won a contract from Du to supply the entire core and a large proportion of the radio network for its GSM/GPRS/EDGE and W-CDMA third-generation networks. The $190 million contract also includes managed services provisions. Du is a registered brand of Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Co., which plans to offer mobile, fixed line, Internet and pay television services in the UAE.
Wi-Fi
- United States: Cellnet Technology Inc. selected Cisco Systems Inc. to provide outdoor mesh technology for a Wi-Fi initiative called Mad City Broadband in Madison, Wis.
Miscellaneous
- Poland: Lucent Technologies extended three existing frame agreements with Telekomunikacja Polska to deliver switching and broadband access equipment. The contract extensions are valued at $36 million.
- Taiwan: Lucent Technologies deployed its Metropolis Wavelength Services Manager optical network platform for Taiwan Mobile to ensure reliability of the carrier’s billing and customer management systems.
- Turkey: Ericsson signed an agreement with Turk Telekom to provide 1,200 microwave transmission Mini-Links for high-performance broadband service.
- United Arab Emirates: Ericsson said it signed a contract with Etisalat to migrate the carrier’s international switching layer to an Internet Protocol-based solution.
- United States: The city of Plano, Texas, selected Motorola to deploy its Motomesh multiradio broadband and Canopy backhaul solutions for wireless connectivity throughout the city for public-safety and municipal personnel.
- Worldwide: SlipStream Data Inc. said it will provide its data acceleration software to enhance Internet data communications for Iridium Satellite L.L.C. In other satellite contract news, Andrew Corp. won a contract with WildBlue Communications to expand the broadband satellite provider’s network of gateway earth stations in North America.
