Lucent Signs New 3G Wireless with Vivo

Brazil : Lucent Technologies announced that it signed a new agreement with VIVO, the largest mobile operator in Brazil, to expand the coverage of VIVO's third-generation (3G) CDMA2000(R) 1xEV-DO network in the main cities in the states of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro - the largest markets in the country.

Lucent's solutions will enable VIVO to offer its 1xEV-DO mobile broadband data services -- which support speeds of up to 2.4 Megabits per second, 40 times faster than a typical dial-up connection -- to more businesses and consumers.

In the coming months, Lucent will provide new Flexent(R) Modular Cell 4.0 base stations and Mobile Switching Centers (MSCs) and upgrade VIVO's existing Lucent-supplied base stations and MSCs to support CDMA2000 1xEV-DO technology, expanding the reach of VIVO's 1xEV-DO network. Lucent Worldwide Services (LWS) will provide network integration, installation and RF (radio frequency) optimization services.

"Lucent has been our main partner as we've introduced advanced 3G services, and through our highly reliable and expanded network, we will be able to deliver mobile broadband data services to more consumers and business customers at speeds of up to 2.4 Megabits per second, which is much faster than our competitors' mobile data offerings," said Javier Rodriguez, vice president of technology for VIVO. "It is also important to remember that the 1xEV-DO network is perfectly integrated with our CDMA2000 1X platform, providing our users with extensive VIVO CDMA coverage."

The recently launched "Vivo Play 3G" 1xEV-DO service enables consumers to download and view multimedia content and entertainment such as TV and news programs, video clips, movie trailers, songs and digital images as well as play 3-D video games. These services are already available though an exclusive CDMA2000 1xEV-DO mobile handset that VIVO introduced in July.

VIVO offers 1xEV-DO mobile broadband services to business customers such as e-mail, Internet access, remote monitoring capabilities via streaming video, and location-based services that can help locate and provide directions to destinations such as restaurants and office buildings. With virtual private network (VPN) connections, business customers can access the VIVO high-speed data network as an extension of their corporate local area network (LAN) or intranet by using a 1xEV-DO PC card plugged into their laptop PC, allowing them to work from any location as if they were in the office while enjoying the same speed, security, authentication and data protection.

In regions where 1xEV-DO network coverage is not available, subscribers can access VIVO's CDMA2000 1X network using their 1xEV-DO mobile devices.

This 1xEV-DO network expansion agreement follows a separate agreement announced in June, under which Lucent is helping VIVO increase the capacity and coverage of the operator's CDMA2000 1X network in the Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Espirito Santo and Sergipe markets.

"This new agreement reinforces the incredible partnership that we have been developing with VIVO for several years now," said Jaime Serrano, Lucent Technologies sales vice president. "We look forward to helping VIVO expand the reach of its 1xEV-DO network and identify and stimulate market demand for these services through the Lucent Market Advantage Program. Our local production capabilities in Brazil also will provide VIVO with time-to-market advantages and cost-effective and fast local service support."

About VIVO

VIVO, a company under the control of the Portugal Telecom and Telefonica Moviles groups, is the largest mobile service operator in the Southern Hemisphere with more than 28 million subscribers in Brazil. VIVO is the absolute leader in the consumer and corporate markets, supplying solutions for commercial users through its Vivo Empresas business unit. VIVO's competitive advantage is based on its use of CDMA, which is the underlying technology for third-generation mobile networks worldwide, and the coverage and innovative characteristics of its voice and data service offerings such as broadband mobile Internet access, video transmission and other forms of online communication.