Thailand’s mobile operator DTAC has chosen Alcatel-Lucent Agile Optical Networking to upgrade its existing 3G network and lay the foundation for a 4G LTE network that will eventually deliver 4G mobile access to more than 40 percent of the Thai population.

Deployment of the 100 gigabit-per-second (Gbps) optical network is already under way in Bangkok, the Thai capital and a major regional financial hub, with expansion to other parts of Thailand to continue throughout 2014.

DTAC is deploying Alcatel-Lucent’s 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS) converged Wave Division Multiplexing/Optical Transport Network (WDM/OTN) platform first in Bangkok. The new optical network will support DTAC’s mobile subscription growth rate of 6 percent per year plus the large number of visitors bringing their own devices into the country.

DTAC is also deploying Alcatel-Lucent’s intelligent generalized multiprotocol label switching (GMPLS) Control Plane that ensures automated network operation and the highest level of service protection for maximum reliability. Included in the 1830 PSS is Wavelength TrackerTM technology which provides an integrated view of all wavelengths across DTAC’s network making it easier to monitor performance and identify problem areas.

Thailand currently has more than 93 million mobile subscribers – approximately 1.3 mobile devices for everyone in its total population of 68.4 million people. Along with the addressing annual domestic data subscriber growth of 17% in 2013, the new DTAC network will also be able to handle the large number of tourists visiting Thailand, generating even more data traffic.