Alcatel-Lucent and Qualcom partner for small cell development. The development aimed to be useful for enterprise and residential deployments. The partners planned to make a joint investment termed as "the next generation of Alcatel-Lucent lightRadio small cells using Qualcomm's FSM9900 family of small cell chipsets".

The partnership with Qualcomm was part of Alcatel-Lucent's Shift Plan. The plan, which was recently announced, aimed to make the company an IP networking and broadband access specialist. According to CEO Michel Combes, the two business areas made up 85% of research and development expenditures in the company within two years.

On the other hand, the partnership represented an important win for its FSM9900 portfolio. "The use of 28 nanometer process technology enables the FSM9900 to integrate more features and improve RF efficiency. RF amplifiers often use much of the available power in femtocells, meaning that 'base-station processors often must survive on a miserly power budget,' said senior analyst Scott Gardner at The Linley Group.

Alcatel-Lucent is a mobile phone manufacturer with headquarters in France. It posted an operating profit of Eur24 million (US$32 million) for the second quarter. The company's sales also rose 1.9% in the quarter to Eur3.61 billion.