Starent Networks, a provider of infrastructure solutions, has announced Mobilkom Austria Group (Mag) has selected Starent’s multimedia core solution for deployment in its mobile operator member companies across Europe for UMTS and LTE mobile broadband services. Starent is working with Kapsch CarrierCom, Austria for the solution deployment.

Mag is a mobile service provider in Central and Eastern Europe. Mobilkom Austria and Vipnet from Croatia will deploy the Starent solution in 2009. Other Mag members will follow in the coming years, Starent said.

Mag will initially use Starent’s GGSN solution on the ST40 multimedia core platform to enable high-speed multimedia services such as video and internet on its 3G/UMTS networks.

New Zealand-based Telecom NZ is all set to launch its nationwide 3G WCDMA 850MHz (W850) mobile network by June. To this effect, the company has chosen Alcatel-Lucent as technology partner.

With the launch of the new network, Telecom hopes to take improve speed and performance by providing a pathway to Long Term Evolution or LTE technology.

In separate news Alcatel-Lucent is also understood to have been selected by US telecommunications company Verizon Wireless to build its LTE 4G network by next year – reportedly the first such network in the US.

Alcatel-Lucent has completed a series of data calls – involving terminals from third-party suppliers – using Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology for Time Division Duplex (TDD) spectrum (TD-LTE), a mobile broadband standard that will be used by operators in China and across the globe.

The test calls were completed by Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell (ASB), Alcatel-Lucent’s flagship company in China.

The company believes that TD-LTE, which was driven by operators in China, is expected to play an important role in the development of 4G networks globally.

The tests, the first such calls completed using infrastructure (Alcatel-Lucent’s commercial eNode B base station) and terminals from multiple vendors (UTStarcom and Signalion), involved live video streaming and web browsing services on TD-LTE.