PARIS -- Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) announced today that it has been selected by NTT DOCOMO, Japan’s largest mobile network operator and a leader in the adoption of next-generation mobile services,to build the mobile backhaul network for its Long Term Evolution (LTE) service with Alcatel-Lucent’s Ethernet transmission solution. This will enable NTT DOCOMO to meet the increasing end-user service demands in a significantly faster way via very high bandwidth with managed quality of service.

Alcatel-Lucent’s packet optical solution will provide NTT DOCOMO with cost-effective and flexible Ethernet–based aggregation and transport from the base stations to the core network, Alcatel-Lucent’s solution is a part of its Mobile Evolution Transport Architecture (META), the industry’s most comprehensive solution for evolving mobile backhaul networks to all-IP.

As service penetration and required speeds per user increase, a new mobile backhaul network combining packet and optical technologies is needed. LTE being a key initiative in NTT DOCOMO’s global strategy, Alcatel-Lucent’s proven Ethernet transport solution will enable NTT DOCOMO to build a reliable and scalable packet-oriented backhaul network which satisfies the advanced requirements for sustainable growth.

The Alcatel-Lucent solution, based on the 1850 Transport Service Switch (TSS) and its universal switching technology, will provide multipoint Ethernet connections between cell sites supported by strong operations, administration and maintenance capabilities, as well as carrier-class protection and network management.

“This selection is a strong endorsement of our innovation and forward-looking capabilities as we work closely with NTT DOCOMO to support its next generation backhaul network and its LTE strategy,” said Sean Dolan, head of Alcatel-Lucent’s activities in Asia-Pacific. “Our solution is further proving its readiness to meet the challenges of current and future network requirements which enable users to consume more complex content at faster speeds.”

Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU)

NTT DoCoMo Inc. (NYSE: DCM)