Alcatel-Lucent to conduct LTE trial for STC

Saudi Telecom Company (STC) has selected Alcatel-Lucent to conduct an end-to-end Long Term Evolution (LTE) trial, to begin in the second half of 2010. This trial will enable STC to test the performance of LTE-based services and assess the related business models across the kingdom.

“As a major operator, STC is committed to providing its customers superior service. It is clear to us that LTE has evolved to being more than just a promising technology,” said Zeyad Al-Otaibi, STC’s vice president networks.  “As STC and Alcatel-Lucent are both on the edge of innovation, we are confident that this trial will help us fulfill our customers’ needs for innovative mobile broadband services.”

The vendor will provide an end-to-end integrated solution including LTE base stations (eNodeBs), the Evolved Packet Core (EPC), IP service routing network elements, operation, administration and maintenance (OAM) systems, as well as a range of professional services.

Outside of its domestic market in Saudi Arabia, STC is present in Kuwait, Bahrain, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey, and South Africa with a global subscriber base of 100 million, as of March 2010.