Alcatel-Lucent on Monday won a contract to extend U.A.E.-based Etisalat's LTE network coverage.

The agreement is part of the operator's plan to cover 99% of the country's populated areas by 2015. In addition, the deal will see Etisalat deploy evolved Multimedia Broadcast Service (eMBMS) in 2014, the technology underpinning LTE Broadcast services.

"This additional business collaboration with Alcatel-Lucent will enable our customers in the U.A.E. to continue to experience cutting-edge broadband connectivity in terms of mobile broadband Internet access, mobile TV applications, video streaming and video calls," said Haitham Abdulrazzak, CTO of Etisalat UAE, in a statement.

LTE Broadcast enables operators to transmit multiple concurrent data streams – typically video content or software updates – to compatible devices. South Korea's KT Corp in January became the world's first operator to launch a commercial LTE Broadcast service. Australian incumbent Telstra is also trialling the technology in partnership with Ericsson.

As for Alcatel-Lucent, Monday's deal follows a contract it won in 2011 that saw its lightRadio compact base station selected by Etisalat to improve the coverage and capacity of its mobile networks.

"Etisalat's deployment of Alcatel-Lucent's LTE solution underscores the confidence they have in our ability to rapidly expand the reach of their network to keep pace with exploding ultra-broadband demands of customers throughout the U.A.E.," said Luis Martinez Amago, president of Alcatel-Lucent's EMEA division.