Nasdaq-listed Alcatel-Lucent has entered into an agreement with Bharti Airtel to support the telecom company’s operations in Africa.
Alcatel-Lucent will supply new Internet Protocol-based networking technology to support the delivery of new mobile broadband data and video services. There is an increasing demand for high-bandwidth mobile data services such as video calling and online gaming in Africa.
Alcatel-Lucent will help evolve Airtel Africa’s data transport and mobile backhaul networks. “Alcatel-Lucent is helping us to fully utilise the advantages of IP/MPLS technology to economically and effectively handle high volumes of a variety of mobile broadband data and video services.
The new network implementation not only provides a substantially improved quality of service for our current customers, but also does an excellent job of preparing Airtel Africa for future international expansion opportunities,” said Manoj Kohli CEO (International) Bharti Airtel.
This new backbone network will support all mobile broadband services to Airtel’s 17 affiliates across Africa (serving 60 million customers) as well as connections to other countries.