Paris- Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU)  has successfully demonstrated full interoperability of its solution for using 4G LTE wireless technology in public safety applications in the United States. Testing of an end-to-end Alcatel-Lucent Public Safety LTE ‘Band 14’ solution successfully met key criteria, ensuring the provision of continuous network coverage for first responders in the field.

4G LTE is already widely deployed in commercial networks with a new generation of mobile phones and tablets. Applied in public safety use, it will significantly enhance communications amongst public safety personnel including first responders.

The testing of Alcatel-Lucent’s public safety LTE solution, carried out with technology from other vendors, has taken place alongside a performance evaluation as part of the ‘Phase 3, Part 1’ of the United States Department of Commerce’s Public Safety Communications Research Program. This program has been part of the LTE Demonstration Network Test Plan conducted at the Commerce Boulder, Colorado Laboratories, in preparation for the future deployment of the FirstNet nationwide broadband public safety network.

Alcatel-Lucent is fully committed to a standards-based LTE solution for public safety and believes this is critical to ensure that first responders can move around without losing service. In line with this commitment, network interoperability has been integral to the technology solution developed by Alcatel-Lucent.

The solution was successfully demonstrated via a series of tests on a network combining Alcatel-Lucent’s evolved packet core (EPC) technology with radio access networks (RAN) from several vendors, and Alcatel-Lucent’s RAN with EPCs from various vendors. The performance testing evaluated whether LTE devices remained connected to a network as well as network throughput.

Representatives of the FirstNet board also were given demonstrations of Alcatel-Lucent’s standards-based Voice over IP Multimedia System (VoIMS), another key element of the total public safety solution Alcatel-Lucent offers the industry.

Wim Brouwer, North America Pubic Safety CTO, Alcatel-Lucent said: “With Phase 3 testing we have proven the performance of Alcatel-Lucent’s Public Safety LTE solution. It is truly standards-compliant, building on the rich experience we have in commercial networks, it offers complete interoperability with other LTE systems. Alcatel-Lucent is today well equipped to satisfy the requirements of public safety. This assures that early deployment of Band 14 LTE equipment will integrate with the FirstNet network once it is established.”

About Alcatel-Lucent end-to-end Public Safety LTE Solution

The interoperability and drive testing was completed using Alcatel-Lucent’s industry standards-based LTE Band 14 solution. This end-to-end system includes the company’s Evolved Packet Core with the 7750 Service Router Mobile Gateway, 9741 Wireless Mobility Manager, 5780 Dynamic Services Controller, RAN solution with the 9412 eNodeB, as well as its industry-leading end-to-end 5620 Service Aware Manager.

Alcatel-Lucent will continue to embrace standards, not only for LTE but also for applications like voice and presence. The company is uniquely positioned to be the committed partner of choice for interoperable LTE Band 14 solutions.