China Telecom, the Chinese fixed and mobile operator, has selected Alcatel-Lucent to deliver multimedia services to subscribers in Shanghai, Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Xinjiang and Sichuan provinces. By converging different types of media – including voice, video, and other data services – over a common IP platform, China Telecom hopes to deliver a growing range of interesting and useful services to more than 120m consumers and business users. 

The contract, won by Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell, Alcatel-Lucent’s flagship company in China, is the first commercial deployment of IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) technology for China Telecom, and builds on a successful trial in Shanghai and Shandong provinces. The project will play a significant role in helping China Telecom evolve its network from its legacy PSTN system to an all-IP infrastructure that operates on the principles of the internet, making it easier and less costly to operate.

“This project with Alcatel-Lucent, our first large-scale commercial deployment of IMS, is a critical step in our transformation to a much more flexible, cost effective, all-IP network,” says XU Sui, deputy general manager of China Telecom’s Network Development department.  “The world of communications is moving to more video, more streamed content from the web, more personalized services – we are building a network for this new world.”

Already the country’s biggest fixed network operator, China Telecom has experienced dramatic growth in its mobile business and is seeking to expand all of its services to all subscribers.  Alcatel-Lucent’s IMS Solution will enable China Telecom to unify communications across fixed, mobile and the web, as well as ensuring it remains secure. Capabilities include voice, video-conferencing, multimedia ringback tones, IP Centrex, SIP Push system, CDMA Anchoring, and terminal management. In addition, China Telecom and Alcatel-Lucent will work together to develop advanced services, including unified network address book, presence, multimedia instant messaging (including SMS, text and video) and image sharing.

“The successful China Telecom trial and commercial deployment of our IMS solution in one of the world’s largest markets, demonstrates that we can support the most demanding, fastest-growing operators,” says Rajeev Singh-Molares, president of Alcatel-Lucent’s activities in Asia-Pacific. “We are ideally positioned to meet the growing appetite for multimedia services and universal access in this part of the world.”