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12th August 2004 - Alcatel today announced the signature
of a contract with SMARTS, a leading regional mobile
operator in Russia, for the deployment of an EDGE (Enhanced
Data rate for GSM Evolution) network throughout the
city of Samara, a city with over one million inhabitants
in the Russian Federation.
Under the terms of the contract, Alcatel will EDGE-enable
the Evolium? 900 and 1800 MHz base stations already
installed in the operator's network using the multi-standard
GSM/EDGE/WCDMA capability of its industry leading Evolium?
solution. The EDGE technology, embedded in the Alcatel
Evolium? radio access solution and already installed
in the SMARTS network, will be deployed thanks to a
simple software activation. Alcatel will also add new
base stations to the operator's network, guaranteeing
full coverage of the whole territory where the SMARTS
group of companies provide mobile services, and providing
an optimal quality of services.
This project will enable SMARTS to deliver, to its
customers in Samara and the Povolzhie region, new broadband
mobile applications and services such as video streaming,
MMS, high-speed access to the Internet and electronic
messaging service.
The Alcatel solution will be delivered in several phases,
with the first phase scheduled for completion by the
third quarter of 2004 and the last phase by end of first
quarter 2005. The commercial service will be operational
by the fourth quarter 2004.
Gennady Kirushin, general director of SMARTS, commented:
"We have partnered with Alcatel for several years already
developing GSM infrastructure in Povolzhie region. This
contract indicates a new step in our cooperation. The
decision we made in favor of Alcatel's Evolium ? EDGE-ready
solution was the right one allowing us to offer our
customers the latest broadband services with minimum
investments."
Marc Rouanne, chief operating officer of Alcatel's
mobile activities, added: "This is our second project
in Russia for the deployment of a commercial EDGE network.
It demonstrates the growing demand for new broadband
user-centric services in the fast-developing Russian
market. We are glad to partner with SMARTS on the deployment
of a leading EDGE network in Russia."
About SMARTS
SMARTS (Middle Volga interregional association of radio-telecommunication
systems), one of Russia's leading mobile operators,
was founded in 1991 and offers GSM900/1800 mobile communication
services to its more than 1,5 million subscribers. Currently
SMARTS's network covers 16 regions of Russia, including
Astrakhanskaya, Volgogradskaya, Ivanovskaya, Orenburgskaya,
Penzenskaya, Samarskaya, Saratovskaya, Ulyanovskaya
and Yaroslavskaya regions; Bashkortostan, Kalmykia,
Maryi-El, Mordovia, Tatarstan and Chuvashia Republics
and Krasnodarsky region's territory. http://www.smarts.ru
About Alcatel
Alcatel provides communications solutions to telecommunication
carriers, Internet service providers and enterprises
for delivery of voice, data and video applications to
their customers or to their employees. Alcatel leverages
its leading position in fixed and mobile broadband networks,
applications and services to bring value to its customers
in the framework of a broadband world. With sales of
EURO 12.5 billion in 2003, Alcatel operates in more
than 130 countries.
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