VimpelCom selects Alcatel-Lucent for transport and backhaul upgrade
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VimpelCom selects Alcatel-Lucent for transport and backhaul upgrade

Russia’s VimpelCom is upgrading its data transport and mobile backhaul networks in Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan to support the latest 3G broadband and business services and prepare for the introduction of 4G LTE.

The IP/MPLS switching technology upgrade is being carried out by Alcatel-Lucent and will support all of VimpelCom’s mobile broadband and business service offerings. The upgrade is designed to meet demand for mobile broadband, video and social networking.

VimpelCom affiliates KaR-Tel of Kazakhstan and SkyMobile of Kyrgyztstan have been included in the upgrade, which has already been completed in the Moscow and Siberian regions in Russia and several cities in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

“IP video, multimedia, and other high-bandwidth applications are becoming increasingly popular, which is driving requirements for greater speed, efficiency and performance. The deployment of an all-IP infrastructure from Alcatel-Lucent will reduce network complexity and cost, while increasing efficiency, and serves as an important step in an ongoing evolution to IP across all of our operations,” said Georgy Pisarenko, head of group product and platform development at VimpelCom.

Alcatel claims that the transformation will give VimpelCom a simpler network structure, which will help to improve performance and reliability, and reduce the cost of operations.

"This project further strengthens Alcatel-Lucent’s cooperation with VimpelCom, and will give the operator in Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgystan a significant advantage over the competition by providing them with a strong network foundation upon which they continue to innovate, introducing new services and increasing bandwidth in a cost-effective manner,” said Alexander Tikhonov, head of Alcatel-Lucent’s business in CIS.

VimpelCom has been busy on the vendor deployment front in recent weeks, having signed a contract with Ciena to upgrade and expand its Russian fibre networks and a contract with Huawei to manage its fixed and mobile networks.

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