InterDigital Inc (IDCC)

[Mooseo1]

Sprint announces 3G vendors, pursues IMS
Kevin Fitchard, 12.07.04, 3:26 PM ET

Telephony

Revealing the first details of its planned CDMA 1X EV-DO launch, Sprint today announced it would invest up to $3 billion in its new network upgrades, divided among vendors Lucent Technologies, Nortel Networks and Motorola, and would be the first U.S. carrier to deploy IMS.

The biggest winner in the deal is Lucent, which won a $1.5 billion contract over three years to upgrade Sprints current Lucent base stations to EV-DO, supply new RF carriers and provide key elements for an IP Multimedia Subsystems (IMS) platform. IMS would converge Sprints network, using VoIP to merge data and voice in the core network, allow for enhanced voice services and pave the way for end-to-end IP in the future.

Motorolas portion was $450 million over one-year, its largest mobile broadband infrastructure deal to date for a single year. It is an extension of its existing CDMA 1X supply deal for 1X basestation equipment and upgrades to EV-DO. Nortel received a three-year contract worth $1 billion for new 1X basestation equipment and controllers and core switching platforms as well as future EV-DO upgrades.

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