Bella Vista Trading Services S.A. and Energia Integral Andina S.A. select Alcatel-Lucent/IT Telecom consortium for the first submarine cable network linking the Colombian mainland with San Andres island

Paris, A new 815-Km-long submarine cable network is set to bring Tolu in the Colombian mainland closer to the San Andres island with advanced broadband connectivity in 2010.

Bella Vista Trading Services S.A. - an International Integrator - and Energia Integral Andina S.A. -a leading energy equipment supplier, and telecom operator in Colombia – selected Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) – in consortium with IT International Telecom, Canada’s leading marine service provider with worldwide operations to deploy this first cable link between the mainland and San Andres, which has a population of some 85.000 citizens.

With an ultimate design capacity of 960 Gbit/s, this advanced submarine cable system will provide the connectivity required to support innovative, IP-based services and applications, such as on-line tourism services and real estate information, as well as e-Education and e-Government solutions. It will give residents of this tropical island plus thousands of tourists that visit the island every year access to high-speed Internet service. The mostly bilingual population of the San Andres Island will have access to advanced ICT services to improve their competitiveness in the hospitality and customer care (call centers) segments.

“Alcatel-Lucent’s and IT Telecom’s expertise will guarantee the deliver of advanced broadband services, while helping set the stage for diversified accessibility to services and business opportunities”, said Annais Guerra Delgado, General Manager at Bella Vista Trading Services S.A.

“San Andres is a key island for Colombia and this new submarine system is one of the goals that the Government of Colombia seeks to achieve through the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications, led by the Compartel program, in development of the government social policy of communications: "All Colombians connected and informed,” said William Bolivar Melo, president at Energia Integral Andina S.A. “This submarine cable will provide advanced services to the San Andrés Island citizens, fuelling its further development.”

“Submarine cable networks are a critical enabler for broadband applications that are showing exponential growth rates,” said Romano Valussi, president of Alcatel-Lucent’s optical and submarine networks activities. “Further strengthening our presence in the region, this new project will contribute to the robustness, efficiency and capacity of the global communications infrastructure and broadband penetration in areas where it is still limited.”

“The continued cooperation with Alcatel–Lucent will ensure that the customer has the best quality system available,” said Jacques Levesque, president of IT Telecom. “The extensive experience we gathered in the provision of customer-focused submarine cable services worldwide, allows us to ensure a smooth and reliable implementation of the system.”

Under the terms of the contract, Alcatel-Lucent will design, manufacture and commission the submarine cable system, based on its dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) technology and cables. IT Telecom will design the route and perform marine surveys and installation of the submarine cable system.

About IT International Telecom
IT International Telecom is an innovative company proud to provide its clients with customized solutions that meet their telecommunication, power installation and maintenance requirements. ISO 9000-2001 certified, IT is based in Montreal, Canada with offices in Bridgetown, Barbados and Halifax, Canada. For more information, please visit external linkwww.ittelecom.com.

About Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) is the trusted partner of service providers, enterprises and governments worldwide, providing solutions to deliver voice, data and video communication services to end-users. A leader in fixed, mobile and converged broadband networking, IP technologies, applications and services, Alcatel-Lucent leverages the unrivalled technical and scientific expertise of Bell Labs, one of the largest innovation powerhouses in the communications industry. With operations in more than 130 countries and the most experienced global services organization in the industry, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with a global reach. Alcatel-Lucent achieved revenues of Euro 16.98 billion in 2008 and is incorporated in France, with executive offices located in Paris. For more information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on the Internet: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com