Alcatel-Lucent has been selected by Vodacom, South Africa’s largest mobile service provider, to build a gigabit passive optical networking (GPON) solution to expand Vodacom’s customer base across enterprise and residential markets. As part of the deal, Alcatel-Lucent will provide the end-to-end GPON - 7360 ISAM FX - and customer experience management platform - Motive Home Device Manager and Network Analyzer Fiber - for Vodacom's wireline and wireless networks across enterprise, residential and mobile segments.
According to Alcatel-Lucent, the new converged network enables Vodacom to provide customers with ultra-broadband connectivity needed to access bandwidth-hungry services and applications such as online gaming and streaming video. Vodacom which has over 60 million customers will deploy the new converged network in all major centers in South Africa, including Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban and expects to reach about 150,000 homes and 100,000 business within the next three years.
Andries Delport, Vodacom Group Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
We first began talking with Alcatel-Lucent about expanding Vodacom’s business into the fixed access market five years ago. This was a significant move for us and required a great deal of consideration. Over time, the Alcatel-Lucent team was able to show that it was the right move for us and that their solution was the best for our needs.
Willem Hendrickx, President of Alcatel-Lucent Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA)
This effort represents a significant and bold move by Vodacom into the fixed network space and allows them to take advantage of new, revenue-generating business models. We are excited that our technology, expertise and knowledge are helping take Vodacom to the next level of converged communications.
