Telefonica Spain has selected Alcatel-Lucent to deliver a 4G LTE network overlay.
This is one the largest 4G LTE networks in Western Europe. Ericsson is also part of the project. Details are below.
Alcatel-Lucent will deploy some 8,000 4G LTE base stations and the 5620 Service Aware Manager (5620 SAM).
Alcatel-Lucent will deliver installation and turnkey project management services in the initial phase of the project, as well as systems integration, maintenance and configuration optimization to reduce time-to-market even further for Telefonica Spain.
Earlier, Alcatel-Lucent conducted pre-commercial 4G LTE pilot networks in Madrid and Barcelona over a live network- consisting of small metro cells and macro base stations.
Alcatel-Lucent has more than 40 contracts for commercial deployments, including two of the largest 4G LTE network roll-outs to date, with two more in process and more than 40 trials worldwide.
“This is a significant agreement for Alcatel-Lucent and our largest in scope to date in Western Europe. We are ready to further explore other wireless technologies down the road, such as small cells to enhance coverage anytime, anywhere and over any device toward a wider collaboration framework,” said Roque Lozano, president Alcatel-Lucent Spain and Global Account Manager for Telefonica.
Meanwhile, Ericsson on Friday it will build 4G network in Madrid and Barcelona, rolling out about 1000 nodes in 2013, in order to support Telefonica’s goal to take 4G to as many customers as possible already this year.
Luis Miguel Gil Pérez, president of Telefonica in Spain, said that LTE is is one of the two pillars of their ultra broadband network concept – together with fiber – and that it is key to make the most out of it.
Telefonica expects to roll out around 2200 nodes in 2013 and will reach 3000 by Q1 2014. They are aiming to cover about 60 major cities across Spain.
The new network will be rolled out in the 1800MHZ band and include the roll out of Ericsson’s multi-standard technology RBS6000.
