Nortel Wins French 3G Contract

France's Bouygues Telecom has selected Nortel as one of its suppliers for its national high-speed mobile internet and voice network. The advanced UMTS network, based on Nortel HSDPA technology, is due to go live in early 2007. The new 5-year contract stipulates that Nortel is responsible for rolling out the network in 4 out of 6 of Bouygues Telecom's operational regions in France; including the Western, South Western, Northeastern and Mediterranean regions.

"We have strong ties with Bouygues Telecom, having supplied their network from their first GSM implementation through to our EDGE solutions, and now we will help them take the important next step to 3.5G," said Michel Clement, president of Southern Europe, Nortel. "Nortel's HSDPA technology allows mobile operators to provide new real-time services that increase the end-user's experience and helps build customer loyalty."

Nortel is currently a key supplier of Bouygues' EDGE and GPRS networks. The current infrastructure provides Bouygues Telecom with the appropriate foundation for the new network upgrade.

The Mobile World subscriber database notes that Bouygues Telecom ended the first half of this year with just over 8.3 million subscribers, giving it a market share of 17.5%."

Posted to the site on 22nd August 2006