Telenor Group selects Alcatel-Lucent to enhance mobile Internet experience in 11 countries

-- Mobile optimization technology to enhance Internet experience for Telenor customers

OSLO, Norway and PARIS, June 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) and Telenor Group have signed a three-year global frame agreement that will give customers fast, buffering-free mobile video and improve overall Internet service quality. The agreement will enable the deployment of mobile Internet optimization for Telenor's 2G, 3G and 4G networks in Europe and Asia.

Alcatel-Lucent will help Telenor address the challenges caused by mobile users accessing 'over the top' (OTT) video from sites like YouTube or Netflix. In high-traffic locations or for popular content being viewed by several people at once – such as the latest YouTube viral sensation – subscribers can be frustrated by slow connection times, interruptions to service and poor quality. What's more, one subscriber streaming high definition video can affect service quality for others nearby.

Key Facts:

• Telenor will deploy technology that automatically manages the delivery of Internet traffic over a mobile network, optimizing the experience for customers watching video and accessing web content while ensuring a surge in demand doesn't affect those using the network for other activities.
• Alcatel-Lucent will provide its leading professional services expertise including system architecture, design, planning and end-to-end integration and testing to provide a tailored solution for each of Telenor's markets.
• Alcatel-Lucent's solution automatically adapts video streams to the most suitable format according to a customer's mobile device, location and subscription level. This reduces the amount of bandwidth needed and has the added benefit of enabling a consumer to watch more video within the data quota of their monthly user agreement. It also temporarily stores copies of popular content on local servers to enhance the user experience.
• The mobile Internet optimization solution includes:
  • Opera's Skyfire Rocket Controller and Optimizer, virtualized software that optimizes video streams and web in real-time on a per device, user and session basis, thereby improving quality of experience, reducing bandwidth and increasing mobile network capacity.
  • ConteXtream's Session Control to manage end-to-end sessions across the network, automatically directing video traffic to Skyfire based on rules or policies decided on by the operator.
  • Alcatel-Lucent is providing its Velocix 7810 Transparent Caching to temporarily store popular content closer to subscribers, as well as its 9900 Wireless Network Guardian to monitor service quality and provide network analytics.
• Analyst firm Informa predicts mobile video streaming will represent 34 percent of all global mobile traffic by 2016, presenting a growing challenge for service providers trying to ensure demand for video does not affect service quality and cause mobile subscriber churn.

Quotes:

Witold Sitek, SVP Technology, Telenor Group said: "Telenor is committed to giving our customers the best possible experience when they use our networks. As their passion for video from sites like YouTube grows, we want to make sure we keep our network capacity and intelligence one step ahead of demand."

Luis Martinez Amago, President of Alcatel-Lucent's EMEA region, said: "Our own network analytics show an explosion in the use of video as we move from 3G to 4G networks. Using our professional services expertise and experience, we are integrating Alcatel-Lucent and partner products to create an innovative solution that helps Telenor deal with this explosion in video traffic. And by improving the subscriber experience, Telenor will foster subscriber loyalty and tap into the growing revenue being generated by mobile subscribers."

ABOUT TELENOR GROUP
Telenor Group is an international provider of tele, data and media communication services. Telenor Group has mobile operations in 11 markets in the Nordic region, Central and Eastern Europe and in Asia, as well as a voting stake of 42.95 per cent (economic stake 33 per cent) in VimpelCom Ltd., operating in 18 markets. Headquartered in Norway, Telenor Group is one of the world's major mobile operators with 148 million mobile subscriptions in its consolidated operations per Q1 2013, revenues in 2012 of NOK 102 billion, and a workforce of approximately 30,000. For more information about Telenor Group, please visit www.telenor.com

Telenor Group Press Contact:
Tor Odland
Mobile: Tel: +47-9909-0872
E-mail: tor.odland@telenor.com

ABOUT ALCATEL-LUCENT (EURONEXT PARIS AND NYSE: ALU)

The long-trusted partner of service providers, enterprises and governments around the world, Alcatel-Lucent is a leading innovator in the field of networking and communications technology, products and services. The company is home to Bell Labs, one of the world's foremost research centers, responsible for breakthroughs that have shaped the networking and communications industry.

Alcatel-Lucent innovations are regularly recognized by international institutions for their positive impact on society. In 2012 and for the second year running, Alcatel-Lucent was named one of the Thomson Reuters Top 100 Global Innovators, recognition for the company's continued addition to its world-class patent portfolio, one of the largest in the telecom industry. Alcatel-Lucent has also been recognized for its sustainability performance. In 2012 the company was ranked Technology Supersector Leader by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. Through its innovations, Alcatel-Lucent is making communications more sustainable, more affordable and more accessible as we pursue our mission of Realizing the Potential of a Connected World.

With operations throughout the world, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with global reach. The Company achieved revenues of Euro 14.4 billion in 2012 and is incorporated in France and headquartered in Paris.

For more information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com, read the latest posts on the Alcatel-Lucent blog http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/blog and follow the Company on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Alcatel_Lucent.