Lucent Delivers 3G Systems to U.S. Cellular

A four-year, US$100 million contract between Lucent Technologies and U.S. Cellular Corp. will bring 3G wireless technology to thousands of U.S. Cellular customers, the companies announced.

Under terms of the agreement, Lucent will supply and install digital wireless systems for the U.S. Cellular network in Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, expanding the carrier's network capacity and capability. Lucent already has begun deploying an advanced digital network based on CDMA technology.

Next-Generation Standard

The system, designed to position U.S. Cellular for 3G wireless telecommunications, is supported by Lucent's technology based on the cdma2000 3G standard, the company said. Lucent has more than 40,000 CDMA base stations and 160 CDMA networks in commercial service around the world.

CDMA is a wireless transmission standard that sends digitized, encoded speech over the airwaves, then uses a unique code to reassemble it in its original format at its destination.

Firms Strengthen Ties

This agreement builds on the relationship established between the two companies last year. In August, Lucent announced a five-year, $15 million contract with U.S. Cellular for the purchase of wireless intelligent network (WIN) hardware and software.

That deal was followed by an agreement last fall to implement digital wireless services for the U.S. Cellular wireless network in West Virginia, covering a population of 827,000 people.

"We have taken definitive steps to enhance our network and position U.S. Cellular for future growth," said Dick Goehring, executive vice president of engineering and chief technology officer for U.S. Cellular.

U.S. Cellular is the United States' eighth largest wireless service carrier, with more than 3 million customers across 25 states. The Chicago-based company reported 2000 revenues of $1.7 billion.