Libya Telecom Technology selects Alcatel-Lucent to build Libya’s first WiMAX Rev-e network

Paris.— Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today announced that it has been awarded a contract by LTT (Libya Telecom and Technology), the national Internet Service Provider in Libya, to deploy the first commercial WIMAX network based on the 802.16e-2005 WiMAX standard, in Libya. LTT plans to launch the commercial service on the network in September 2008.

The new network will support voice over IP (VoIP) and high-speed internet access, enabling the delivery of advanced broadband multimedia services, such as video streaming, through a variety of end-user including modems and WiMAX terminals. It will also accommodate stationary, nomadic and mobile applications and complement the carrier’s existing fixed-based broadband services.

Under the agreement, Alcatel-Lucent will provide a complete WiMAX infrastructure solution, including the radio access network, microwave backhaul and IP routers and will deploy around 120 sites in a first phase.LTT has an aggressive schedule for additional deployments.

“We want to provide our residential and business customers a wide range of beneficial, easy-to-use wireless broadband services,” said AbdulMajeed Husain the Planning and Projects department Manager of LTT.“Alcatel-Lucent’s WiMAX solution will enable us to better serve customers in major urban centers such as Tripoli. Alcatel-Lucent’s unique expertise and ability to set up a wireless broadband network quickly and economically will enable us to begin offering these new services to our customers in just a few months.”

Alcatel-Lucent’s solution offers a cost-effective way to augment wireline deployments in emerging market countries.

“In economies such as Libya, our WiMAX solution is a valuable tool for rapidly and cost-effectively increasing penetration of high-speed Internet access ,” said Philippe de Jarnieu Chomel, Alcatel-Lucent’s Vice President for the Mediterranean, West & Central Africa. “In addition to being able to offer new revenue-generating services, LTT will benefit from additional operational efficiencies because this solution offers one of the most advanced technologies in terms of radio frequency management.”

Thanks to Alcatel-Lucent’s Open CPE (customer premises equipment) Program, the infrastructure supports a wide range of terminals from various terminal equipment partners. This program is designed to promote an open device ecosystem, ensuring that customers have access to the widest possible range of interoperable end-user devices at attractive pricing.

With 24 commercial contracts and more than 70 trials around the world, Alcatel-Lucent is the undisputed leader in the WiMAX market.

Alcatel-Lucent’s Universal WiMAX solution integrates the latest technological innovations, such as “beam forming”* and MIMO**. Beam forming enables a service provider to dramatically reduce the number of radio sites needed to provide coverage – in some instances by as much as 40 percent – while reducing interference and ensuring better indoor penetration of the radio signal. MIMO helps make radio links more robust, nearly doubling the capacity delivered in dense urban environments.