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Euronews: AlcaLu's New BT Experience

November 29, 2012 | Ray Le Maistre |

Leading the pack in today's race for the regional news gold medal are Alcatel-Lucent, BT Group plc, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., Fastweb SpA, Telefónica SA, Nokia Siemens Networks and Swisscom AG.

  • BT is bolstering its customer experience capabilities with the deployment of additional tools from Alcatel-Lucent's Motive software suite. The British operator has been using the Motive remote management software for some years but has now signed a new four-year deal that includes use of the Motive Data Collection Manager, part of the vendor's Customer Experience Solutions portfolio. BT will use this Service Provider Information Technology (SPIT) tool to identify and gather information about the connected devices in the homes of its broadband and TV/video service customers so that customer relationship representatives can check on the performance of those devices as part of any support request. A recent survey conducted by Heavy Reading showed that operators are set to increase their investments in customer experience management (CEM) systems in 2013. (See CSPs Go Shopping for CEM, AlcaLu Gets Motivated About CEM and BT Deploys AlcaLu's Motive.)

  • Italian operator FastWeb, part of the Swisscom group, has struck a five-year strategic agreement with Huawei for the joint development of next generation fixed broadband access technologies and applications. The Italian government has valued the deal at US$557 million, according to Reuters. FastWeb is aiming to offer what it calls "ultra-broadband" to 5.5 million homes and businesses by 2014 and intends to develop a network that will ultimately be able to offer downstream speeds of 1 Gbit/s. The operator, which intends to strike similar agreements with other partners, has earmarked €2 billion ($2.6 billion) for "investments in innovation and network development" during the next four years. (See Fastweb Plans €400M FTTx Investment and T Italia, Fastweb Team Up on FTTX.)

  • Telefónica Digital, the technology innovation and next generation applications division of the giant Spanish telco, is the lead participant in a $25 million series C round of funding for HTML5 mobile applications platform specialist Everything.me (also known as DoAT Media). Other investors in the round include SingTel Innov8 and Mozilla, a Telefónica Digital partner. For more on this, read Money Matters at Telefonica Digital. (See Telefónica Bangs Its Digital Drum.)

  • About 650 Nokia Siemens Networks staff will be made redundant following the closure of a manufacturing plant in Bruchsal, Germany, reports Marketwatch. The closure is part of the vendor's global cost reduction program that, once completed, will result in a headcount reduction of more than 17,000 jobs. There are signs, particularly in the company's most recent quarterly financial report, that the cost-cutting strategy is resulting in improved financial health for the joint venture. (See APAC Boosts NSN's Q3, NSN's Rajeev Suri: Restructuring, Research & Resilience , NSN to Cut 2,900 Jobs in Germany and NSN Could Lose More Than 17,000 Staff.)

  • Swisscom has launched Switzerland's first 4G services, offering the mobile broadband service in 26 locations. The operator intends to reach 70 percent of the country's population with its LTE-based 4G services by the end of 2013. (See Swisscom Upgrades With Ericsson.)

  • Kazakhstan's largest mobile operator, Kcell, has set an price range for its planned IPO that will see the carrier raise between $525 million and $650 million from the listing of 25 percent of its total shareholding, reports Reuters. (See TeliaSonera's Kcell Proceeds With IPO.)

    — Ray Le Maistre, International Managing Editor, Light Reading



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