Alcatel-Lucent's IP-Based Networking Enables Bharti Airtel to Extend Mobile Bradband Services in Africa

Deploying Alcatel-Lucent’s advanced new IP-based networking technology to support delivery of mobile broadband data and video services, Bharti Airtel’s (News - Alert) African arm Airtel Africa is meeting the rapidly growing demand for mobile broadband services in Africa. To satisfy this rising demand, as well as meet on going expansion plans, Alcatel-Lucent (News - Alert) said that it will continue to support Airtel Africa’s data transport and mobile backhaul networks using its IP/MPLS (IP/Multiprotocol Label Switching) technology.

According to Alcatel-Lucent, this new backbone network will support all mobile broadband services to Airtel’s 17 affiliates across Africa – serving 60 million customers -- as well as a much more robust interconnection to global networks including the UK. The single international network will offer a more simple structure to improve performance, reliability, capacity convergence and interoperable mechanisms for faster service recovery.

To reduce the time for delivering a variety of service types, the network includes a common platform for Layer 2 and Layer 3 service provisioning. As a result, it offers faster Internet speed for mobile and Airtel business solutions, toll quality voice and extension of services from Airtel, leading to better customer experience and reduction in the cost of operations, asserts Alcatel-Lucent.

Airtel Africa CTO Eben Albertyn, said, “Alcatel-Lucent is helping us to fully utilize 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, it also does an excellent job of preparing Airtel Africa for future international expansion opportunities.”

Likewise, Daniel Jaeger, vice president of Alcatel-Lucent Africa, stated, “Airtel Africa IP/MPLS network will carry all the international traffic (voice, internet, IT ) of Airtel in Africa connecting it to the peering point in UK.”

“Thanks to our best-in-class IP/MPLS mobile backhaul solution, we can help the seventeen operating companies that comprise Airtel Africa to innovate with their service offers to meet customers’ needs with an even higher degree of reliability,” noted Jaeger.

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