OREANDA-NEWS. Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) is to deploy its powerful IP core/edge routing platform – the 7950 Extensible Routing System – for Japan’s largest mobile operator, NTT DOCOMO, INC., enabling it to manage rapidly rising data demand being generated by its 68 million1-plus subscribers.

NTT DOCOMO is experiencing a dramatic increase in 4G LTE mobile service adoption which, in turn, is generating a significant increase in data traffic generated by customers. Furthermore, with the ‘Internet of Things’ taking a hold across myriad ‘things’ connecting to the network, NTT DOCOMO is expecting data traffic to expand and diversify further.

To meet these rapidly changing network demands, Alcatel-Lucent’s 7950 XRS core/edge platform will enable NTT DOCOMO to both increase the operational performance of its mobile network while reducing the cost of operations. It flexibly and dynamically expands the operator’s IP network capabilities, as customers access new technologies and content, in a smaller real estate footprint, while reducing energy consumption compared to core routing platforms deployed today.

Japan is one of the most advanced telecommunications markets in the world with a long history of early technology adoption and use of multimedia applications. 

In 2016 it will commence test broadcasts of 8K-resolution television services, and will host a major global sporting event in 2020, for which NTT DOCOMO plans to launch commercial 5G services. Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has also predicted that data traffic will double year-over-year2, resulting in a thousandfold increase between now and 2020.