Alcatel-Lucent aims to be hub of broadband ecosystem
Published: 19 February, 2009
READ MORE: Alcatel-Lucent | Broadband
Alcatel-Lucent has seemed somewhat confused about '4G' lately, being widely misrepresented as getting out of WiMAX, then insisting it was still playing there, though targeting it at a different customer base than LTE (away from the cellular handset model). It has also been talking about a common platform for the two standards, with heavy hints that this would sell in China, and has now gone a step further in its efforts to house the technologies happily under one roof. This is the new ng Connect program, an initiative to create an ecosystem of infrastructure, devices, content and applications for a whole range of broadband networks, fixed and mobile.
These would include LTE, WiMAX, GPON and other systems in which ALU has products, and initial members include Hewlett-Packard and Samsung, as well as 4DK, Buzznet, chumby, connect2Media, dimedis, Fishlabs, ZNX, Signexx, Total Immersion, TuneWiki and Words & Numbers. The idea is to create a unified set of partners and eventually some common software platforms and user interfaces, that could work across handsets, home networks, cars, gaming systems and so on.
"Through all of that dialogue [about LTE], we really found there was a void in terms of the discussion needed to happen to bring industries outside of the telecom world into how make use of all of this connectivity. I was never really satisfied that LTE was going to be about just data cards," said Derek Kuhn, VP of emerging technology & media, in an interview with FierceBroadband Wireless.
The program will initially focus on five areas - consumer media and entertainment; enterprise collaboration and e-healthcare; automotive; digital signage; and computing experience. It will aim to accelerate the expansion of the wireless broadband device category to include CE gadgets, in-car systems and machine-to-machine equipment for home and industrial use.
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