ALCATEL-LUCENT : enables Belgacom to deliver personalized mobile broadband service plans, giving customers more control over their spending

Customers in Belgium now get greater billing transparency, keeping them informed about spending levels and allowing them to define the mobile broadband services they really want

Brussels, Belgium, July 3, 2012 - Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) is enabling Belgacom, Belgium's leading telecommunications service provider, to offer its mobile subscribers easier-to-understand, personalized service plans and the ability to track billing statements in real-time.

With consumers paying ever-closer attention to their service plans - particularly for data usage and roaming charges - policy management solutions by Alcatel-Lucent allow Belgacom to offer its customers easier access to their data charges. As a result, customers can enjoy greater control over how and what they are spending while removing the shock of unexpected charges.

Belgacom's customers can now receive real-time usage notifications and access continually updated information about their charges for both national and international data services usage. This ensures that the company is providing customers with even more information than required under the latest EU regulations on data roaming. These new regulations will see further capping of international roaming charges from July 2012 and warnings for customers when they hit a €50 limit on their data roaming usage, with approval needed for further spending.

The solution is allowing Belgacom to better understand and address the concerns of its subscribers, ultimately delivering greater customer satisfaction. It also allows Belgacom to better manage the range of quotas and tariffs that need to be applied, and address any new EU regulations.

This solution also provides greater flexibility to construct data plans suited to particular subscribers. For instance, Belgacom can track data subscriber usage patterns, and use that information to develop personalized service plans, proactively, to meet their customers' changing needs.

Luc Defieuw, VP CIS, North, Central and Eastern Europe from Alcatel-Lucent comments: "Many service providers are now investigating how data usage and monitoring solutions can help them manage surging network demand, while reducing costs and providing even more value for their subscribers. With this deployment, Belgacom is putting itself at the forefront of this movement."

The Alcatel-Lucent solution for Belgacom

Alcatel-Lucent has supplied Belgacom with its 5780 Dynamic Services Controller (DSC) that provides the Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) for 3G and 4G wireless networks.  It allows operators to create and modify services based on customers' individual needs.  It can dynamically interface with applications such as online video or gaming sites to understand the specific network requirements needed to deliver them to the subscriber with an enhanced quality of experience. It can also be used to optimize network resources, effectively increasing the virtual capacity of an operators' network. 

Providing operators with a clear evolution path toward Mobile Broadband

The 5780 DSC forms part of Alcatel-Lucent's Wireless Packet Core solution which delivers the Internet-Protocol (IP) capabilities of 4G LTE to service providers' 3G networks today.  This allows networks to meet the superfast speeds and high-capacity data capabilities provided by 4G LTE to deliver real-time services such as video streaming, video conferencing and mobile Internet gaming, and meet the growing needs of customers today and in the future.

As the global demand for mobile services continues to rise, Alcatel-Lucent is providing operators with a clear, efficient evolution path toward mobile broadband. Alcatel-Lucent's innovative Wireless Packet Core and its groundbreaking lightRadio™ portfolio of products are designed with broadband in mind, providing a framework for wireless networks that offer lightning fast data speeds while reducing operating costs and power consumption.

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