Alcatel signs OEM deal with Spatial

ATLANTA--

Alcatel and Spatial Wireless today announced the signing of an original equipment manufacturer agreement that will combine Alcatel’s Evolium family of wireless infrastructure with Spatial’s Atrium call server/media gateway.

The move marks the first significant move by Alcatel into the booming wireless softswitch market in the U.S. By combining the two product lines, Alcatel believes it will have a complete solution for U.S. operators using GSM, GPRS/EDGE and UMTS infrastructure. The Evolium line includes a wireless media gateway, a radio access network, mobile switching centers, home location registers, an intelligent network platform and GPRS core infrastructure.

It also could mark the beginning of new aggressive phase of partnership for the French vendor giant. The company, which has a dominant position in the wireless broadband market sees opportunity to translate some of that success to the wireless side.

“We see this as an opportunity for us to break into the market,” said Marc Rouanne, COO of Alcatel’s Mobile Communications Group. “We are entertaining numerous discussions with every major carrier at this point.”

Just as important, the partnership shows that Alcatel is doing more than just buying its technology development, according to David Owen, president of Alcatel mobile activities in North America. The Spatial partnership, while focused on OEM aspects, may include joint application development activity, something Alcatel has been aggressively chasing. “One of the misperceptions was that Alcatel only brought its wallet to the partnerships,” he said.