AlcaLu's LTE Giant

Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) may not be able to match its main radio access infrastructure rivals in terms of the number of commercial Long Term Evolution (LTE) equipment contracts it has, but the vendor claims to have the biggest deployment so far.

Light Reading Mobile caught up with AlcaLu President of 4G/LTE Networks Ken Wirth recently, and he said the vendor had seven commercial LTE contracts with operators, three of which are AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), Verizon Wireless and VimpelCom Ltd. (NYSE: VIP).

But Verizon, which launched its LTE network at the end of 2010, is by far the largest LTE deployment in the world, according to Wirth. (See VZW LTE: What's Coming Down the Fat Pipe?, Verizon's LTE Debut: Keep It Simple, Stupid and Verizon's LTE: What You'll Get.)



"You can take all the other deployments out there and that doesn't even come close to what we've done with Verizon," said Wirth. "The size is really significant. ... It dwarfs what's been done so far." (See Where in the World Is LTE? and Who's Bagged the Biggest LTE Deals?)

Regarding AlcaLu's seven contracts, Wirth noted: "It's about the quality, scale, and scope of those contracts."

The boasting season is in full swing now as the mobile industry gets ready to go to Barcelona for its biggest bash of the year, the Mobile World Congress (MWC). Equipment suppliers, handset makers, and operators alike are staking claims for their place in the market. And the nascent LTE market, in particular, is no exception.

You can get all the pre-event news and coverage from Barcelona once the doors open on Feb. 14, at our special Mobile World Congress Show Site.

— Michelle Donegan, European Editor, Light Reading Mobile