DALLAS-Alcatel Corp. said it signed a $133 million contract with Thai carrier TA Orange to upgrade the operator’s GSM/GPRS network with EDGE and UMTS technology. The carrier plans to deploy UMTS service in 2005 and 2006, Alcatel said.
Alcatel will also deploy a mobile Next-Generation Network to increase TA Orange’s capacity for multimedia services. Alcatel said its mobile NGN solution is based on technology from Spatial Wireless, which Alcatel recently acquired.
The technology will allow TA Orange to reduce its GSM/GPRS operating costs and help it optimize costs for its third-generation network, preparing for the introduction of Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystems.
