Uruguay's Claro Deploying LTE Network in Montevideo:

Alcatel-Lucent says that it has supplied Claro Uruguay with an end-to-end LTE network that will be fully deployed and operational in Montevideo by the end of this month.

Additional phases of network deployment, which is being laid over the existing 3G network will take place later this year and will increase the coverage in Montevideo and other cities.

The deployment is part of American Movil's LTE Latin American rollout which began with Claro Puerto Rico in 2012

Javier Rey, Alcatel-Lucent Sales Vice President in charge of the America Movil account, said: "This deal positions Alcatel-Lucent as a strategic LTE supplier with one of the world's top service providers and is a great opportunity to become a trusted partner of Claro AUP (Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay). We look forward to additional deployments in this region as frequencies become available."

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Alcatel-Lucent Wins Colombian Network Contract:

Alcatel-Lucent has been selected by Lazus to deploy 'metro' networks in nine cities in Colombia.

The IP/MPLS solution, to be deployed over this year, will deliver mobile backhaul and wholesale metropolitan services for IPTV and Triple Play, business and cloud service providers.

The network will be deployed in the Colombian cities of Bogota, Barranquilla, Cartagena, Santa Marta, Sincelejo, Monteria, Bucaramanga, Cali and Popayan.

Financial terms were not disclosed. Lazus has operations in Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica.

ITU Telecom World 2013 sets agenda for far-reaching changes in ICT sector:

ITU Telecom World 2013 closed its doors last week following a packed programme of networking, knowledge sharing and industry showcasing. The event featured an impressive global line up of showfloor participants, sponsors and partners, including Ooredoo, China Mobile, Huawei, Intel, Alcatel-Lucent, ABS, AT&T, Microsoft Lync, NTT Group, AIS Group, True, DTAC, Telkom South Africa, Rohde & Schwarz & LS Telecom.

Pavilions from around the world highlighted opportunities for dynamic ICT investments to a global audience, featuring Angola, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Cameroon, China, Gabon, Ghana, Japan, Kenya, Republic of Korea, Lao P.D.R, Malaysia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Thailand (including supporting partners MICT, NBTC and TCEB), Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

“We have enjoyed four busy days of conversations, showcasing and networking at ITU Telecom World 2013,” said ITU Secretary General, Dr Hamadoun Touré. “We welcomed the world’s youngest country, South Sudan, organizations at the cutting edge of our ICT ecosystem as well as young innovators who are already helping shape the future. It has been my privilege to join such a truly broad global debate. As we prepare to return home to different corners of the globe, my overarching hope is that we can take the lessons learnt from our debates here and apply them directly in our lives. Let’s become true agents of change, working to change the world for the better.”

Hosted by the Kingdom of Thailand, ITU Telecom World 2013 convened over 6000 participants from 153 countries worldwide.

“It has been an honour to host ITU Telecom World 2013 and welcome its global participants, showcasing our ICT industry to the world, via all our many activities within the Thai pavilion,” said Group Captain Anudith Nakornthap, Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Thailand. “Utilizing the platform that ITU Telecom World 2013 provides has helped us demonstrate and strengthen Thailand’s position as an ICT hub in the ASEAN region.’’

The seismic change taking place in the ICT industry and its far-reaching impact was the core theme underpinning all activities at the event.

ITU Telecom World 2013 sets agenda for change in ICT sector:

ITU Telecom World 2013 wrapped up this week following a packed programme of networking, knowledge sharing and industry showcasing. The event featured an impressive global line up of showfloor participants, sponsors and partners, including Ooredoo, China Mobile, Huawei, Intel, Alcatel-Lucent, ABS, AT&T, Microsoft Lync, NTT Group, AIS Group, True, DTAC, Telkom South Africa, Rohde & Schwarz & LS Telecom. 

Pavilions from around the world highlighted opportunities for dynamic ICT investments to a global audience, featuring Angola, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Cameroon, China, Gabon, Ghana, Japan, Kenya, Republic of Korea, Lao P.D.R, Malaysia,  Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Thailand (including supporting partners MICT, NBTC and TCEB), Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

“We have enjoyed four busy days of conversations, showcasing and networking at ITU Telecom World 2013,” said ITU Secretary General, Dr Hamadoun Touré. “We welcomed the world’s youngest country, South Sudan, organizations at the cutting edge of our ICT ecosystem as well as young innovators who are already helping shape the future. It has been my privilege to join such a truly broad global debate. As we prepare to return home to different corners of the globe, my overarching hope is that we can take the lessons learnt from our debates here and apply them directly in our lives. Let’s become true agents of change, working to change the world for the better.”

Hosted by the Kingdom of Thailand, ITU Telecom World 2013 convened over 6000 participants from 153 countries worldwide.

“It has been an honour to host ITU Telecom World 2013 and welcome its global participants, showcasing our ICT industry to the world, via all our many activities within the Thai pavilion,” said Group Captain Anudith Nakornthap, Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Thailand. “Utilizing the platform that ITU Telecom World 2013 provides has helped us demonstrate and strengthen Thailand’s position as an ICT hub in the ASEAN region.’’

Optical network spending falls in third quarter: Infonetics Research:

Operator spending on optical network equipment has fallen over the July-September period, despite an increase in spending on WDM equipment, according to a new study from Infonetics Research.

“In the third quarter of 2013, sales of WDM optical equipment are up 4% from a year ago and remain at elevated levels reached earlier in the year, but overall optical spending is down on a quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year basis,” said Andrew Schmitt, a principal analyst at Infonetics.

“Looking ahead, we expect Tier 1 carriers to dial back spending,” added Schmitt. “Capex was so strong in the first and second quarters of 2013, it’s unreasonable to anticipate a big flush in the fourth quarter, especially in North America.”

Citing general weakness in the current market environment, Infonetics notes that spending in the optical network hardware market is down 7% compared with the second quarter of 2013, and 1% compared with the third quarter of 2012.

The bright spot is the WDM sector, which notched up its fifth consecutive quarter of growth for the third quarter of 2013.

Geographically, North America seems to be holding up relatively well, having seen a 13.4% year-on-year increase in optical spending in the third quarter, following an 11.4% increase in the second.

That was driven, says Infonetics, by aggressive 100G deployments by Tier 1 players.

In the EMEA region, by contrast, WDM spending declined on both a year-on-year and sequential basis in the third quarter, while Japan was responsible for dragging down the Asia-Pacific optical market.

The report also indicates that Huawei (Shenzhen, China), Ciena (Hanover, MD, USA) and Alcatel-Lucent (Paris, France) were the WDM market share leaders in the third quarter.

Nokia will not pursue acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent:

Nokia will not pursue an acquisition of parts of Alcatel-Lucent after weighing various options related to the French telecoms gear company's business divisions, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

In September Reuters cited several sources saying that Nokia was holding internal talks on whether to approach Alcatel-Lucent about a tie-up as part of the Finnish company's strategic review in light of the planned sale of its handset business to Microsoft.

After considering whether Alcatel's IP-routing and wireless divisions would complement its NSN telecoms equipment business, Nokia has decided not to pursue formal talks at this time, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website on Tuesday.

Formal meetings between the companies never took place, the paper added, citing people familiar with Nokia's plans.

Both Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia declined to comment.

NSN Chief Executive Rajeev Suri told Reuters last week that while he would not rule out acquisitions, the company did not have to "do deals for the sake of deals".

He also said he was in favour of a "just wait" strategy of letting market forces take out weaker rivals rather than doing a deal.

Alcatel-Lucent, YooMee partner on TDD LTE in West, Central Africa:

Alcatel-Lucent will enable YooMee Africa, the leading high-speed Internet service provider in Cameroon, to expand into new African markets by offering TDD LTE ultra-broadband wireless access.  

YooMee - previously known as 4G Africa - provides high-speed reliable Internet access and value added services to residences and businesses customers throughout sub-Saharan Africa. LTE is the best choice for YooMee to build wireless broadband networks as it is the latest worldwide standard to offer mobile internet services replacing technologies like WiMAX.

YooMee aims to deploy TDD LTE in its new markets within the next 6 months and expects to build out an average 35 to 50 sites per capital city before deploying in remaining cities of the countries it operates in. Alcatel-Lucent will deploy a complete end-to-end TDD LTE solution consisting of eNBs, Wireless Backhaul and the Evolved Packet Core (EPC), as well as providing professional services such as network planning, pre-launch optimization, network integration, and start-up assistance services to accompany YooMee with its commercial rollout.

Dov Bar-Gera, CEO of YooMee Africa, said: “YooMee is committed to helping eliminate the digital divide in Africa and providing ultra-broadband accessibility as the means to accomplishing that goal. In addition to our efforts in Cameroon,we plan to deploy TDD LTE in other countries in which YooMee is holding the relevant licenses in the coming years. Our work at the University of Douala, giving 70,000 students and faculty access to broadband internet at very affordable rates, is another indicator of our commitment to improving the quality of life in Africa by overcoming the digital divide.”

Alcatel-Lucent third quarter revenue highlights:

Alcatel-Lucent announcing the third quarter revenue presented a rosy picture about the future about the telecom equipment maker as the company started responding well in line with its new Shift Plan strategy.

TelecomLead.com is presenting Alcatel-Lucent third quarter revenue highlights

Alcatel-Lucent third quarter revenue increased 7 percent year-on-year to Euro 3,668 million. Alcatel-Lucent reported net loss of Euro 200 million for the period.

The Core Networking segment grew 6.0 percent, driven by IP Routing.

In the Access segment, both Wireless and Fixed Networks enjoyed a strong performance, driven by broadband roll-outs partially offset by declines in legacy technologies. This is partially offset by the decrease in revenues from Managed Services.