Chinese consumers want their next-generation wireless services and they want them now. Advanced mobile services like media streaming, ring back tones, video sharing and high-speed Internet access are all in demand, and Chinese service provider China Unicom has tapped Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell, Alcatel-Lucent's flagship company in China, to deploy advanced 3G W-CDMA networks in 14 Chinese provinces to help users gain access to these next-generation communication services.
Initial network deployments are planned for the cities of Tianjin, Baoding, Wenzhou, Taizhou, Guiyang and Guilin with completion expected by May, 2009.
Alcatel-Lucent will provide approximately 11000 Node B (Base stations), its Home Location Register (HLR) data base system, as well network maintenance and optimization services in 14 provinces.
One of the key benefits of deploying this equipment is the smooth migration path to fourth-generation wireless, which promises to enable China Unicom to evolve towards 3G/HSPA+ and 4G/LTE.
Last month Alcatel-Lucent was chosen among a select group of primary network vendors for its initial LTE network deployments in the United States.
Utilizing their existing spectrum, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone have been field testing 4G LTE networks in Minneapolis, Columbus, Ohio, and Northern New Jersey in the United States, as well as in Budapest, Dusseldorf, and Madrid in Europe. These field trials have demonstrated download rates of 50 to 60 Mbps peak speeds. Utilizing its recently acquired 700 MHz spectrum, Verizon Wireless hopes to expand its 4G trials this summer, with the goal of commercially launching its LTE network in 2010.
