United Arab Emirates (UAE) operator du has announced plans to use Alcatel-Lucent’s Small Cells technology for the roll-out of its fixed and mobile converged offering, scheduled for the end of 2010.

du owns one of the most advanced networks in the Emirates region, consisting of a fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) architecture on the fixed side, and an HSDPA+ network on the mobile side. Leveraging its existing fixed and mobile infrastructure assets, du will now deploy Alcatel-Lucent’s Small Cells technology to help its customers overcome indoor mobile coverage issues.

“Alcatel-Lucent’s expertise enables us to provide our customers with the fastest and highest-quality network connectivity, across fixed and mobile, both indoors and outdoors,” says du’s chief commercial officer, Farid Faraidooni. “Building on Alcatel-Lucent’s Small Cells approach, we can satisfy the increasingly demanding mobile service requirements of our residential and business subscribers, answering their need for crystal-clear voice and high-speed data services, no matter where they are, and through any 3G-enabled device.”

Alcatel-Lucent will provide its end-to-end Femto-based 9360 Small Cell portfolio – consisting of the 9361 Home Cell, the 9362 Enterprise Cell, the 9366 Small Cell Gateway, and Small Cell Management & Customer Care systems. Alcatel-Lucent’s small cells automatically come into service without the need for any manual configuration by the end-user. Moreover, du will benefit from the power of Bell Labs’ innovative self-organizing network (SON) innovation, reducing handover failures by as much as 80 per cent, while bringing important operational efficiency savings.

Alcatel-Lucent currently holds more than 20 ongoing trials and 14 commercial deployment agreements for its Femtocell/Small Cells products and services. Commercial contracts include the selection of Alcatel-Lucent by Etisalat and du in the UAE, and by Vodafone Group as its preferred vendor for the deployment of a nationwide Femtocell service in the UK.