Russia’s MegaFon improves in-building, 3G mobile coverage in Moscow with Alcatel-Lucent Femto cells

Paris and Moscow - MegaFon, Russia’s leading operator in the mobile data segment[1] with 20,000 base stations deployed in its 3 G network, has launched a 3G mobile coverage improvement program in Moscow – targeting in-building environments where providing a “5-bar” mobile signal is often a challenge. The project leverages Alcatel-Lucent’s (Euronext Paris et NYSE : ALU) small cells products and expertise.

When building cellular networks, service providers have to solve the problem of ensuring mobile coverage in hard-to-reach places – such as underground facilities, industrial buildings with thick concrete walls, etc. In all those cases, Femto-based small cells are an optimal solution to provide high-quality, “5-bar” coverage. Enhancing the wireless service experience of those residential and business customers who have been experiencing a weaker in-building mobile signal, MegaFon’s Moscow branch will install its so-called “Minicells” - free of charge.

"Our Minicells are compact 3G base stations ensuring high-quality mobile coverage - even in the most difficult locations. Expanding MegaFon’s 3G mobile network to in-building environments, the Minicells will help our customers get ubiquitous access to crystal-clear voice and high-speed wireless data/Internet services. This enables us to maintain our leading position in mobile data services delivery,” said Andrei Kurdanov, director of MegaFon’s Moscow branch.

“Femto-based small cells are being deployed all over the world, as operators and their subscribers start to understand - and appreciate - the improved mobile service experience that the technology brings,” commented Alexander Tikhonov, vice president of Alcatel-Lucent’s activities in the CIS. “Alcatel-Lucent’s small cells are plug-and-play, and enable the creation and delivery of a wide range of value-added services based on operators’ proven strengths such as location, presence information and security. The new capabilities brought by Alcatel-Lucent’s small cells portfolio will help MegaFon to reinforce its image as a technology and service innovator, driving increased subscriber loyalty.”

Alcatel-Lucent has provided MegaFon with its end-to-end Femto-based 9360 Small Cells portfolio – including the 9361 Home Cell, the 9362 Enterprise Cell and the 9366 Small Cell Gateway. The solution includes its best-in-class network management system which combines Alcatel-Lucent’s Wireless Management System, Wireless Provisioning System and the Home Device Manager from its Motive Product Division. Alcatel-Lucent is providing full deployment and integration services along with design, installation and commissioning, software integration and project management.

Small cells, lightRadio™, LTE, and other Alcatel-Lucent products and technologies represent a clear strategy by Alcatel-Lucent to provide operators with the tools they need to address the exponential growth in mobile traffic. Whether for the home, enterprise, or public/metro environments, they provide greater capacity and coverage, a reduced cost curve (on a per bit basis) and new revenue opportunities.

About Alcatel-Lucent’s small cells approach
Alcatel-Lucent is the leading end-to-end Femto/small cells vendor, holding more than 20 trials and 19 commercial deployment agreements. Commercial contracts include the selection of Alcatel-Lucent by MegaFon in Russia, Chunghwa Telecom in Taiwan, Telefonica in Spain, Etisalat and du in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and by Vodafone UK, external link Vodafone Italy and Vodafone New Zealand as their preferred vendor for the deployment of a nationwide Femtocell service.

Fully in line with Alcatel-Lucent’s recent lightRadio™ announcement, the company sees small cells as a fundamental building block of converged, IP, more flexible and smarter networks. As a matter of fact, small cells and lightRadio™ are part of the same continuum - from very small to very big cells. This continuum is reflected in Alcatel-Lucent’s wireless portfolio innovation strategy.

Alcatel-Lucent’s portfolio of Femto-based small cells leverages numerous Bell Labs innovations such as self-organizing networks (SON). SON empowers small cells to automatically configure at power up; it also enables them to periodically monitor, update and optimize their neighbor relation lists and handover parameters – thus reducing handover failures by up to 80%. Using SON technology, Alcatel-Lucent’s small cells have the capability to continuously adjust transmit power to the surrounding environment - to deliver the best possible coverage. Bell Labs studies have found that its SON feature translates to a 20 percent CAPEX savings and 50 percent OPEX savings.

- More information: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/wireless/femto_small_cells.html

- Or check out Wilson Street at: external linkhttp://www.wilson-street.com/

About OJSC MegaFon

OJSC MegaFon is a nationwide Russian universal service provider operating in all segments of the telecommunications market. After the acquisition of Synterra Gorup MegaFon entered the fixed communications and broadband market and became a truly universal provider of communications services.

OJSC MegaFon was set up in May 2002. By January 31, 2011 its main shareholders are the AF Telecom Holding Group, TeliaSonera Group and the Altimo telecommunications holding. MegaFon and its daughter companies have all necessary licenses and operate in all Russian regions as well as in Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Tajikistan. OJSC MegaFon is the first and the only operator which rolled out its own network throughout the entire territory of the Russian Federation. Moreover, it was the first to launch a commercial 3G network in Russia. Today, as a result of a well-balanced marketing policy, the company is a leader in Mobile Internet across Russia and has the second largest active subscriber base and revenues.

MegaFon has many prestigious awards, including a Russian Brand #1 in 2010 (in the mobile communications section). Its CEO Sergei Soldatenkov was qualified as the best Russian telecommunications executive in the Russian Top 1000 Managers list. MegaFon is an active sponsor of sports. The company is a General Partner of the 2014 Winter Olympics and 2014 Winetr Para-Olympic Games in Sochi, as well as a General Partner and an official mobile operator of the 27th World Summer University Games of 2013 in Kazan.

MegaFon’s Board of Directors set up the following main areas of development for 2011-2013: further expansion of 3G networks, data centers and the company’s own network of retail outlets.

For more information, please, refer to: external linkwww.megafon.ru



[1]According to an AC&M Consulting survey.

About Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU)

The long-trusted partner of service providers, enterprises, strategic industries and governments around the world, Alcatel-Lucent is a leader in mobile, fixed, IP and Optics technologies, and a pioneer in applications and services. Alcatel-Lucent includes Bell Labs, one of the world’s foremost centres of research and innovation in communications technology.

With operations in more than 130 countries and one of the most experienced global services organizations in the industry, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with global reach.

The Company achieved revenues of Euro 16 billion in 2010 and is incorporated in France and headquartered in Paris.

For more information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com, read the latest posts on the Alcatel-Lucent blog http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/blog and follow the Company on Twitter: external linkhttp://twitter.com/Alcatel_Lucent.