Alcatel-Lucent scores U.S. Cellular deal

Regional wireless operator U.S. Cellular Corp. tapped Alcatel-Lucent for a five-year contract to provide infrastructure equipment to increase coverage and capacity of the carrier’s CDMA network. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Per the agreement, the infrastructure vendor will provide software, services and network equipment, including a range of base stations designed to fit a variety of deployment scenarios, the company said in an announcement. The companies said the network enhancements will provide U.S. Cellular customers with faster uploads and downloads, new mobile high-speed data services, including mobile video telephony, music streaming and other multimedia applications. The companies did not report whether the equipment included an upgrade to CDMA2000 1x EV-DO Revision A.
“Alcatel-Lucent has been a trusted partner since the very beginning of U.S. Cellular and we chose to continue our ongoing relationship based on Alcatel-Lucent’s knowledge of our business, its understanding of our vision and the breadth of its portfolio,” said Michael Irizarry, executive VP and CTO at U.S. Cellular.
“This is a significant contract for Alcatel-Lucent and we look forward to continuing our longstanding relationship with U.S. Cellular as we help them rapidly deploy new revenue generating applications and services,” said Cindy Christy, president of Alcatel-Lucent’s Americas region.