Next Generation Communications Blog

April 2011

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Making the Impossible, Possible - In the Palm of Your Hand

By Susan Campbell

Is it possible to change the impossible? This was a question asked in a recent Alcatel-Lucent blog as Tod Sizer, Head of wireless research, Bell Labs examined the potential in challenging the impossible.

In his writing, Sizer examined how scientists will take an idea and challenge their scientific minds to find a way to make the theory a reality. It starts with clearing the mind and imaging the end result. When a team of people are then challenged with trying to reach that end result and they get halfway to the goal, major gains have been accomplished.



Alcatel-Lucent Offers Innovative Solutions to Empower ICT Industries to Drive Economic and Environmental Change

By Susan Campbell

With the current innovations that are in place at this time, is it possible to move toward a low-carbon economy?

If Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) industries can leverage their own value proposition to drive sustainable growth in this space, they will not only drive that vision of sustainable environmental protection to reality, they will also be able to develop jobs and wealth.

As captured in this Alcatel-Lucent white paper, "Information and Communication Technologies: Enablers of a Low-carbon Economy," the ICT sector accounts for only 2 percent of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions yet offers the ability to significantly reduce that remaining 98 percent by as much as 15 percent by 2020. Alcatel-Lucent offers, for example, smart grid and smart metering solutions focused on the energy sector and intelligent transportation systems to drive such efforts.

Such solutions can enable electricity generators to route power more efficiently, reduce peak capacity requirements and exchange real-time information with customers. Solutions for the smart grid have the potential to reduce carbon emissions substantially over the next decade, if they are adopted and implemented according to design.

ICT solutions can also drive change in the transportation sector by improving logistic networks, making it easier to mix transportation modes, define the most energy-efficient type of transport, help optimize routes and reduce inventory needs.

Alcatel-Lucent is taking an open, collaborative approach to such initiatives, launching GreenTouch, a global research consortium. GreenTouch brings together leaders in industry, academia and government labs to work toward making communication networks 1,000 times more energy efficient.

This focus is important as ICT industries have demonstrated they have an inherent ability to stimulate sustained development of new business activities and employment opportunities. This sector can drive economic growth, while also developing the innovations necessary to directly battle climate change.

The combined economic and environmental benefit derived from ICT solutions are a result of innovative communications applications and solutions placed in areas as diverse as building design and maintenance, transport and logistics, electricity generation, distribution and consumption, business process streamlining and so much more.

Alcatel-Lucent takes the position that companies should act as responsible corporate citizens and leads this belief with measurable action.

















Why Social Media Services are Critical for Communication Service Provider Revenues

By Andreas Lemke, Applications Marketing, Alcatel-Lucent

We live in a time of tremendous disruption in the digital economy. Applications are moving into the cloud while smart phones and tablets are multiplying. Everything is becoming social including: shopping, customer service, search, gaming, learning, work-life in the enterprise, reading, traveling, and dating, even politics through social media campaigns and voter participation.

Communication service providers (CSPs) can benefit from these disruptions. They are selling rapidly growing numbers of smartphones and mobile broadband services that propel the social media phenomena, yet commoditization looms and network load demands high infrastructure investments.

Service Providers Can Deliver Today's Business Customer Needs with Alcatel-Lucent's Business Networking Services

By Susan Campbell

Service providers today are finding that enterprise customers are seeking to minimize costs, reduce complexity and improve overall service quality while adding new functionalities. At the same time, this customer group is asking for help in meeting growing bandwidth needs, as well as reach and reliability requirements as they strive to embrace the increased voice, data and video traffic.

The good news for these service providers is that Alcatel-Lucent offers a full line of Business Networking Services that enable service providers to meet all of these needs, while also driving additional revenue streams and sustaining profitable growth. The company’s IP/MPLS solution is designed to support the needs service providers seek to meet with IP transformation projects.

As service providers are evolving to packet-based network architectures with converged IP data, voice and video running over Layer 2 and/or Layer 3 business VPNs, Alcatel-Lucent is helping these players to tailor the business VPN service offerings to be sure they meet each enterprise customer’s unique requirements. A focus on healthy evolution to this platform ensures service providers not only deliver the demanded applications, but also drive healthy revenue growth.

With the Alcatel-Lucent service router and service switch IP/MPLS portfolio, service providers gain access to an IP VPN, which is a multipoint Layer 3 VPN to support multi-site IP networking. The company’s application-assurance features strive to avoid VPN commoditization to ensure service providers can offer enterprise customers greater visibility, reporting and control at the application level.

The portfolio also offers carrier Ethernet VPNs, which include virtual private LAN service (VPLS) and multipoint Carrier Ethernet VPN, as well as a Virtual Leaded Line (VLL), or point-to-point carrier Ethernet VPN.









IMS from End-to-end

By Susan Campbell

The market for service providers is changing and those who are ready to embrace these changes and drive revenue will find themselves leading their respective segments. These would-be leaders need to leverage the opportunities in applications and video by creating platforms for intuitive and compelling content.

Service providers can partner with Alcatel-Lucent to leverage the company’s end-to-end IMS solutions and reinvent communications. Alcatel-Lucent’s offerings help service providers to make the changes they need to their communications services so as to deliver fixed, mobile and Web access in a way that is quick, smooth and economical. IMS solutions are used to migrate to an all-IP network where they can drive profits by optimizing costs and service delivery within those solutions.


Online Video Driving Demand for Multi-screen Services

By Susan Campbell

Consumers are beginning to embrace the multi-screen digital lifestyle, blurring the line between traditional broadcast TV and online multimedia content. TV and video are being consumed without fixed program schedules or even a home TV. Connected devices such as PCs, smarpthones, tablets and netbooks are allowing users to adopt a more flexible viewing expereince. The challenge in this industry is that consumers want to be able to watch content on different fevices, creating a demand for true multi-screen services.

In addition to the demand for multi-screen services, consumers also want seamless access to the same content, capabilities and quality of experience (QoE) on any screen, anywhere and at anytime.



Alcatel-Lucent Showcasing New lightRadio Product Family at UITP World Congress

By Rajani Baburajan


Alcatel-Lucent is showcasing its new lightRadio product family for urban transport applications at the 59th UITP World Congress and Exhibition in Dubai.

One of the solutions the company is demonstrating is lightRadio Cube, which supports train or vehicle to ground communications. Alcatel-Lucent is also demonstrating on-board interactive kiosks providing multimodal and multimedia information, integrated communication and management solutions for control rooms, on Board CCTV and Video analytics solutions and more.

Announced earlier this year, the lightRadio product family helps mobile operators by radically shrinking and simplifying the base stations and cell site towers, which are the most expensive, power hungry, and difficult to maintain elements in the network.

Featuring a flexible architecture, lightRadio provides simpler, lighter and greener broadband wireless networks for urban transport operators.


Telepak Networks Picks Alcatel-Lucent to Offer Wireless Ethernet Backhaul Solution

By Rajani Baburajan

Telecom operator Telepak Networks has reportedly selected Alcatel-Lucent to deploy Internet Protocol/ Multi Protocol Label Switching (IP/MPLS) for its packet-based network to offer wireless Ethernet backhaul services and IP services to customers in parts of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee.

Alcatel-Lucent’s solution is expected to enable Telepak Networks to offer flexible IP-based backhaul services. The regional service provider will also be equipped to meet anticipated future growth requirements.

“At Telepak we are committed to our customers and to maintaining a high level of customer satisfaction,” said Gregg Logan, vice-president, Telepak Networks, in a statement. “Since our customers operate in extremely competitive markets, it’s imperative that we have the ability to enhance our services while keeping operating costs low.”



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