The French vendor has been selected to help Airtel supply IP-based networking technology for broadband data and video services.
As the proliferation of smartphones in the Africa region continues to address high bandwidth data demands, Alcatel-Lucent has been deployed by Airtel Africa to evolve its data transport and mobile backhaul networks using its IP/MPLS technology.
“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,” said Manoj Kohli, CEO at Bharti Airtel.
“The new network implementation not only provides a substantially improved quality of service for our current customers, it also does an excellent job of preparing Airtel Africa for future international expansion opportunities.”
The backbone network will support mobile broadband services to Airtel’s 17 affiliates across Africa, serving 60 million customers, and provides connection to global networks including the UK.
Airtel says the single international network will provide a range of capacity convergence and interoperable mechanisms for faster service recovery. Airtel’s investment includes a common platform for Layer 2 and Layer 3 service provisioning to reduce the time of delivering a variety of business types.
“Airtel Africa IP/MPLS network will carry all the international traffic, including voice, internet and IT of Airtel in Africa to connect it to a peering point in the UK,” added Daniel Jaeger, VP of Alcatel-Lucent Africa. “We can help the 17 operating companies that comprise Airtel Africa to innovate with their service offers to meet customers’ needs with an even higher degree of reliability.”
