U.S. Cellular awards Alcatel-Lucent contract for ongoing network expansion

U.S. Cellular (AMEX: USM) and Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today announced a five-year agreement for Alcatel-Lucent to supply a wide variety of network equipment, software and services supporting U.S. Cellular’s ongoing network expansion.

The equipment, software and services from Alcatel-Lucent will make it possible for U.S. Cellular to improve their customers’ experience through increased coverage and capacity of its network based on CDMA2000® technology. This platform will enable U.S. Cellular to provide an enhanced mobile data customer experience, including faster uploads and downloads when connecting to the internet, and new mobile high-speed data services, including mobile video telephony, high-quality music streaming and other multimedia applications.

“U.S. Cellular has repeatedly been recognized for providing our customers with the greatest wireless experience, so it’s critical that we partner with a vendor that can help us create and maintain the best wireless network possible,” said Michael S. Irizarry, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at U.S. Cellular. “Alcatel-Lucent has been a trusted partner since the very beginning of U.S. Cellular and we chose to continue our ongoing relationship based on Alcatel-Lucent’s knowledge of our business, its understanding of our vision and the breadth of its portfolio.”

Under the agreement, Alcatel-Lucent will provide a range of base stations designed to fit a wide variety of deployment scenarios to enable U.S. Cellular to address the needs of its customers no matter where they live, work and play.

“By once again choosing Alcatel-Lucent to expand and grow its network, U.S. Cellular is demonstrating its confidence not only in CDMA technology but also the CDMA market in general,” said Cindy Christy, president of Alcatel-Lucent’s Americas region. “This is a significant contract for Alcatel-Lucent and we look forward to continuing our longstanding relationship with U.S. Cellular as we help them rapidly deploy new revenue generating applications and services.”

Earlier this year, the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Wireless Call Quality Performance Study(sm) for the fourth consecutive time ranked U.S. Cellular “Highest Call Quality Performance among Wireless Cell Phone Users in the North Central Region, for Two Years”.

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About Alcatel-Lucent

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) provides solutions that enable service providers, enterprises and governments worldwide, to deliver voice, data and video communication services to end-users. As a leader in fixed, mobile and converged broadband networking, IP technologies, applications, and services, Alcatel-Lucent offers the end-to-end solutions that enable compelling communications services for people at home, at work and on the move. With operations in more than 130 countries, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with global reach. The company has the most experienced global services team in the industry, and one of the largest research, technology and innovation organizations in the telecommunications industry. Alcatel-Lucent achieved adjusted proforma revenues of Euro 18.3 billion in 2006 and is incorporated in France, with executive offices located in Paris. [All figures exclude impact of activities transferred to Thales]. For more information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on the Internet: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

This release was published on openPR.