Next Generation Communications Blog

LTE

Alcatel-Lucent: Consumers Want Access to Same Content on Any Screen, Around the Clock

By Ed Silverstein

Consumers today want to be able to have a multi-screen experience. They also want to have simplified content delivery. Combining both of these needs, there are some key ways that service providers can improve the users’ multi-screen experience.

Alcatel-Lucent says that consumers just don’t want to be able to watch content.

Alcatel-Lucent: Market 'More than Ready' for Multi-screen Services

By Susan Campbell

Consumers today are carrying multiple devices and service providers need to develop solutions that enable rich content delivery and applications across all of those devices if they hope to be able to effectively compete in this market. This is especially true as the line between traditional broadcast TV and online multimedia content is quickly blurring.

Today’s consumer wants to be able to watch TV and video content without having to be tied to a fixed program schedule or the home television. Consumers are rapidly adopting more flexible viewing experiences that include connected and mobile devices, such as tablets, smartphones, PCs, netbooks and more.

The Eternal Challenge for Wireless Providers: Ensuring Quality with Wildly Fluctuating Bandwidth

By Ed Silverstein

With advances in mobile networks, many changes are ahead. Service providers will need to plan for fluctuations in bandwidth consumption. They also want to be able to maintain the quality of the user experience.

These changes are the result of mobile service providers moving to 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks, explains Alcatel-Lucent. But for service providers to take advantage of the benefits that IP and LTE offer, they will need to change to a business model that takes advantage of users’ needs for enhanced services and applications, says the company.

It is clear that the need is there, and it is rising exponentially.



Mobile Payments Opening Up Huge Opportunities for Service Providers

By Ed Silverstein

An increasing number of network providers are adopting new business models and embracing open development. Such activities represent new strategies to accelerate application enablement and address the growing demand for applications across consumers and enterprises.

By efficiently enabling applications and collaborating with third parties in a more open manner, network providers can establish their place as value-added participants in the emerging application ecosystem. There is no “one-size fits all” approach for network providers to accomplish these objectives. Instead, network providers will need to consider, and possibly adopt, multiple business models to reap the full benefits of the application opportunity.


Bridging 2G, 3G and 4G Network Capabilities via LTE

By Susan Campbell

Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks have gained much attention as of late, especially as network operators are scrambling to keep up with the data demands on their legacy networks. The bandwidth demands aren’t likely to reverse and those operators unable to keep up will soon learn how quickly customer churn can proliferate through all channels.

While the change to LTE can seem daunting and even scary, the good news is that such a transformation can solve a number of problems that the increase in demand has caused. At the same time, LTE can help to reduce the cost per megabit and build a service-aware infrastructure that will appeal to mobile broadband services.

This is much easier said than done, however.



Best Practices for Improving Network Monitoring and Management

By Susan J. Campbell Network operators are more successful when their networks operate at peak performance levels. To ensure they can achieve such levels, proper network monitoring and management solutions must be in place. While such solutions can deliver value to the network operator, true optimization can be achieved through self organizing networks.

Alcatel-Lucent helps to drive self organizing networks (SON) through inter-cell interference coordination or ICIC. SON is standardized by the 3GPP and the Alcatel-Lucent implementation of the ICIC feature helps operators to maintain outstanding quality on their LTE network, without additional OPEX.

According to Bell Labs studies, ICIC offers the service provider specific benefits, including hand over failure that is reduced by 5 fold; increased throughput by up to 30 percent; and a performance increase in call setup.

As the entire licensed frequency band is available to all LTE cells of an operator, interference can be caused at the cell edge.





The Move to LTE Helps Companies Meet their Wireless Demands

To show off the potential of LTE technology in the most demanding of circumstances, Alcatel-Lucent and the Texas Energy Network (TEN) recently announced that they will hold a live demonstration in New Mexico later this month.

How Can You Reduce Network Costs by Migrating to an IP Infrastructure

By David Sims

For mobile operators, according to Alcatel-Lucent officials, "migrating from a tried and tested TDM environment to an all-IP network offers tremendous opportunities in terms of a lower cost base and a richer applications environment." But it also presents technical and operational challenges as well. Implementation strategies available to operators seeking to introduce new standards and IP capabilities in mobile networks need to consider IMS, EPC, LTE, or IP backhaul, as well as ways to increase service capability without compromising service and business continuity.  A full IP infrastructure provides greater network capacity and converged voice and data while reducing the cost of communicating. IP networks can support a host of user-friendly, customer-focused applications. Network costs are greatly reduced with an IP infrastructure as well. Alcatel-Lucent officials say the advantages include having a single infrastructure for voice and data, simplified management, reduced operational costs, a secure infrastructure and high availability. There's also the advantage of having a scalable, flexible deployment for wired and wireless networks and from access to core IP infrastructure, one which Alcatel-Lucent officials say is "easy to integrate with other vendor products through LAN Extension," and one that is "easy to integrate a wide variety of phone applications." And not overlooking the obvious, IP infrastructures allow you to take advantage of flexible, low-cost softphone options. Alcatel-Lucent's IP Transformation for Industry and Public Sector offering is designed to enable migration from standalone voice and data networks - often based on dated and expensive technologies - to a fully converged, state-of-the-art communications network. An integrated IP platform "supports enhanced applications like instant messaging, video, unified messaging and Internet for both fixed and mobile users," company officials say, adding that "this provides an open-standards platform for maximum scalability and interoperability."
 


Alcatel-Lucent to Host 100G Press Conference

By Erin Monda

Alcatel-Lucent, a leader in the fixed, mobile, and converged broadband networking industry, will host a live Web conference on June 9 to announce its latest advances in optical transport technology. The company intends to help service providers overcome capacity challenges presented by bandwidth intense services and applications.

A company spokesperson provided me with this insight into the announcement:  "We believe that the data tsunami is really the issue of the decade. The solution we plan to present next week will help our customers overcome their bandwidth challenges today and pave the way to offer new solutions in the future."
  Alcatel-Lucent considers higher-speed Ethernet to be critical in managing traffic demands. And it remains a pack leader when it comes to 100 Gigabit Ethernet capabilities. Last year, it was the first company in the industry to provide a serving router for the edge, where service providers need it most.




Reduce OPEX While Improving QoS with Self Organizing Networks

By Susan J. Campbell

Operational expenditures (OPEX) are a necessary evil in the larger organization. When it comes to managing the network however, network operator decision makers can improve the quality of service delivered to the customer base - a key focus in a market dedicated to developing customer loyalty - while also reducing OPEX when the network is able to organize itself to achieve maximum efficiency.

Alcatel-Lucent's self-organizing network (SON) technology is specifically designed by Bell Labs to reduce network planning, deployment and optimization costs as it automates the configuration and optimization of the femtocell. The result is higher throughout and faster, more reliable data connections that ensure the experience is optimized for all involved.

With this higher throughout and more reliable data connections, the femtocells can increase the uptake of 3G services, thereby generating additional revenues from services the network operator already offers.





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