New Zealanders now have access to world-leading mobile broadband technology with the launch of Telecom’s Mobile Broadband CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Revision A upgrade today, powered by Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) solutions.

“New Zealand is one of the first countries in the world to have this technology, which makes possible a whole new world of real-time mobile services,” said Simon Moutter, Chief Operating Officer – Business, Telecom New Zealand. “It offers super-fast mobile data speeds for both downloading and uploading data, which means that wherever they are, customers will be able to use their notebooks, laptops and other mobile devices to enjoy services such as video conferencing, multi-player gaming, and streaming video.

“Super-fast upload speeds means that Mobile Broadband powered by Rev. A is ideal for remote workers wanting to send large files, as well as receive them. For example, photographers will be able to send large photo files directly from location shoots much more quickly and easily. Mobile Broadband Rev. A makes it feasible for many more New Zealanders to work effectively away from their office, wherever they need to be,” said Mr Moutter.

Mobile Broadband Rev. A offers average download speeds of 800Kilobits per second (Kbps) and average upload speeds of around 300Kbps. It employs CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Revision A technology, the next step up in the development path for the CDMA 1xEV-DO network behind Telecom’s current Mobile Broadband offering. The upgrade was carried out by Alcatel-Lucent, which built and now manages Telecom’s mobile data network.

Mobile Broadband Rev. A is available initially in the Auckland CBD area. It will be available in other metropolitan areas starting from early 2007 and rolled out throughout New Zealand during the course of the next year.

Hilary Mine, head of Alcatel-Lucent’s Australasia Regional Unit, said the launch of Mobile Broadband Rev. A is another example of the strength of Telecom’s mobile technology path. “Upgrading to Rev. A will ensure that New Zealand remains at the forefront of global mobile innovation and enable Telecom to continue delivering a truly world-class mobile broadband service for customers.

“This is one of the first deployments in the world of EV-DO Revision A, and the rapid growth of EV-DO subscribers beyond New Zealand means a ready demand for new applications and services based on the technology. We can expect to see some very exciting developments and it’s fantastic that New Zealand and New Zealanders will be at the forefront of them.”

W-CDMA and CDMA2000 1xEV-DO 3G technologies are on target to reach 167 million users by the end of this year, climbing to pass the one billion mark in 2010 according to new research from the Wireless Network Strategies service at Strategy Analytics. In this report, “Worldwide Cellular User Forecasts 2006-2011,” Strategy Analytics also predicts that 3G users will account for more than half of all cellular service revenues by 2010, despite the fact that 3G users only account for just one-third of a 3 billion user wireless market.

Phil Kendall, Director, Global Wireless Practice, notes, “Having passed the 100 million subscriber mark in early June 2006, the 3G market will now enjoy a period of sustained growth. Verizon Wireless is driving a real surge in 3G demand in the US, while China and India will start 3G services next year. With Indonesian 3G services already live, and more of the world’s major population centers, such as Brazil, Pakistan and Russia, coming online later in the decade, by 2009, we will see more than one quarter of a billion subscribers being added to 3G networks each year.”

David Kerr, VP Global Wireless Practice, adds, “3G still has its detractors, but it is starting to make a significant contribution to the wireless market place. Even in emerging markets it will generate more than one quarter of service revenues by the end of this decade, providing an important source of ARPU uplift as more and more marginal users enter the market.”

Successful EV-DO Rev. A trial leads to agreement to equip sites with EV-DO Rev. A and includes core network gear and services

Verizon Wireless, the nation’s leading wireless provider, and Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) have extended their supply agreement to include upgrades to existing 1x Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) Revision 0 sites and incremental upgrades to CDMA 1xRTT sites to 1x EV-DO Revision A. CDMA 1xEV-DO Rev. A offers fast downlink speeds and enhances the uplink data speeds for wireless broadband data users, providing new quality of services features needed to support simultaneous video, voice and data applications. The financial terms of the agreement are not being disclosed.

Ed Salas, vice president of network planning, Verizon Wireless, said, “Motorola has been a long-time CDMA infrastructure supplier to Verizon Wireless, and continues to offer us high-quality CDMA technology solutions that help us meet our customers’ ever growing needs for wireless broadband services.”

“This agreement highlights not only Motorola’s past investments in CDMA 1XRTT and 1x EV-DO technology, but our ongoing and projected future investments to insure our most valued customers like Verizon Wireless can continue to offer leading edge broadband data and multimedia services. We expect to continue to evolve CDMA 1X EV-DO technology over time to insure the technology maintains competitiveness with other broadband wireless technology options,” said Fred Wright, senior vice president, Networks & Enterprise, Motorola.

CDMA 1xRTT and 1x EV-DO technology are widely use in many regions of the world including North America, Japan, Korea, China and many countries in Southeast Asia, serving more than 275 million subscribers. The technology offers an evolution path that maintains backward and forward compatibility with earlier versions of CDMA technology while providing a future upgrade path to even faster broadband data rates.

Motorola has been providing wireless communications solutions for nearly 80 years and was one of the co-inventors of cellular telephone technology in the 1970s and early 1980s. Motorola serves CDMA customers in 32 countries around the world and supports approximately 80,000 cell sites of CDMA equipment worldwide.