February 17, 2006

Cingular Wireless L.L.C. looks to be getting down to business with its national third-generation network buildout plans.

L.M. Ericsson and Lucent Technologies Inc. both announced contract expansions with Cingular to continue supplying the nation’s largest carrier with UMTS and HSDPA equipment and integration services.

"As it continues its nationwide rollout, Cingular solidifies its role as a world leader in delivering true 3G mobile services and applications to its subscribers,” said Angel Ruiz, head of Ericsson North America.

Earlier in the week, Cingular announced a similar deal with Nortel Networks Ltd. Cingular said it gave Nortel a three-year contract extension, but the carrier did not provide details about the lengths of its contracts with Ericsson and Lucent.

Although Cingular did not announce a contract extension with Siemens AG—as it did with its other 3G equipment suppliers—Cingular insists Siemens is still part of its network expansion plans. The carrier declined to elaborate on its relationship with Siemens.

Analysts questioned the Cingular-Siemens partnership after Siemens failed to show up among the suppliers for Cingular’s initial 3G rollout late last year.

Terms of the contracts were not disclosed and the news didn’t boost the stock prices of Ericsson, Lucent or Nortel in morning trading.

Source: RCR

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