O2 signs pan-European network deal with Lucent


18 Sep 2003

O2 has selected Lucent Technologies to provide an independent pan-European assessment of its network, siliconrepublic.com has learned. The three-year deal will give Lucent authority to assess and analyse the performance of O2’s GSM and GPRS networks in Ireland, the Isle of Man, the UK and Germany.

According to O2, the project will help the company to optimise its voice, email, messaging and mobile internet services in the various markets it operates in.

Lucent Worldwide Services, with resources from Bell Labs, will collect network and end user services performance data, then analyse and interpret the data to provide O2 with a clear picture of its network and application performance.

This will involve measuring the performance of O2’s GSM and GPRS infrastructure across cities, towns, roads and rail networks throughout Europe. The performance of O2’s in-building network will also be assessed in a significant number of major buildings.

The project will measure performance from the end-user perspective and includes analysing the delivery of voice, email and messaging, both text and multimedia. This will help O2 to assess its comparative network performance to ensure high quality customer service. It will also help O2 to pinpoint areas that need investment in order to increase revenues.

“It is important to O2 that we ensure our network coverage performs to its optimal capacity. Rigorous testing and analysis methods are a means of continuing our high performance levels,” said Dave Williams, chief technology officer of O2. “We selected Lucent for its technical excellence and an in-depth understanding of network operations, which will help us to provide better services and satisfaction to our customers.”

By John Kennedy