February 17, 2010— Alcatel-Lucent today announced it has signed a cooperation agreement with Telecom Italia (TI) to engage in a new technology development program, including a trial of 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless broadband technology. The joint program aims to assess the evolution of mobile radio access network, in order to prepare Telecom Italia to offer its customers a wider range of next-generation services, by optimising investments.

Leveraging the respective strengths of TI Lab and Bell Labs, Alcatel-Lucent’s research arm, two of the industry’s leading R&D organizations, a unique end-to-end LTE trial has been initiated. The trial will assess how to deploy next-generation mobile access technology and how to fully exploit its capabilities, in order to introduce new mobile services, while reducing the time-to-market.

To this end, the field trial will also focus on the usage of small cell solutions (such as pico cells) to address “hot spot” and indoor coverage applications, and their related throughput and latency performance.

In parallel, TI Lab and Bell Labs will investigate even more specific and advanced LTE-related topics, through simulations and analysis. Architectural analyses will be conducted, and unique proof of concepts will be realized – all aimed at giving Telecom Italia unique insights into LTE’s efficiency and evolutionary capabilities.

“Partnering with Telecom Italia to innovate in LTE illustrates the strength of Alcatel-Lucent’s transformation strategy and our commitment to deliver value to our customers,” said Stefano Lorenzi, head of Alcatel-Lucent’s activities in the central Mediterranean countries. “This initiative also is fully in line with Alcatel-Lucent’s application enablement vision and High Leverage Network™ strategy.”