support, maintain and upgrade a range of technical platforms delivering key services to enhance customers’ mobile experience.

The agreement is expected to deliver a range of benefits to both Vodafone UK and its customers including greater cost efficiency, faster time to market for new products such as innovative new tariffs and offers, as well as Vodafone UK’s access to Alcatel-Lucent’s Research and Development facilities to ensure a programme of continuing improvement.

Under the five year agreement, Alcatel-Lucent will carry out maintenance and operations for Vodafone UK’s Intelligent Network & Core Applications (INCA)(1) platforms, as well as transition current systems to standardised Alcatel-Lucent platforms to enhance levels of service delivery.

The initiative is expected to help accelerate the introduction of new prepay and enterprise offers to both consumers and businesses to give customers even more convenience and value.

“We are confident that this agreement with Alcatel-Lucent will help Vodafone UK to operate more efficiently as well as enhance levels of service to customers,” said Jeni Mundy, CTO of Vodafone UK. “By accessing Alcatel-Lucent’s standardised product range and strategic services architecture, we also expect to lower the cost and accelerate the roll out of new products by reducing the amount of system customisation required.”

“Alcatel-Lucent is delighted to offer this managed service to Vodafone UK to ensure that they continue to deliver the highest levels of service to customers as well as compelling and innovative customer propositions,” said Andy Williams, President of Alcatel-Lucent’s Services business. “Our ability to create, deploy and to operate complex next-generation networks on behalf of our customers is accelerating rapidly and we are looking forward to serving Vodafone UK to the fullest over the next five years.”

⁽¹⁾ The INCA platforms cover the Home Location Register (HLR) which contains information on customers, the Prepayment system and the Intelligent Nodes which control Virtual Private Network (VPN) services. Together the INCA platforms manage the mobility, authentication and incoming call activity of subscribers, they perform real time rating and control of prepay calls, and they allow advanced call scenarios used extensively in VPN and enterprise services.