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New Caledonia’s OPT and Alcatel sign Euro 42 million contract for new GONDWANA-1 submarine cable network


WEBWIRE

Paris, October 4, 2006 - Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA et NYSE: ALA) announced today that it has signed a turnkey contract valued at EUR 42 millions with the Post & Telecommunications Office (OPT) of New Caledonia to rollout Gondwana-1, a submarine cable network connecting New Caledonia and Australia. Based on Alcatel’s optical networking solutions, the new deployment will significantly increase the capacity of OPT’s network.

With completion scheduled in the first quarter of 2008, the project will be beneficial to the region’s economic development by offering high-speed connectivity to the Territory. This new submarine network will link Nouméa, in New Caledonia, to Sydney, in Australia where it will interconnect with the international routes towards Europe and the U.S. An unrepeatered link will also connect Poindimié, on the New Caledonian East coast, to the Loyalty Islands.

“With the deployment a new submarine cable network, OPT will be able to offer international connectivity and to develop new, high-speed services such as Triple Play and third-generation UMTS HSDPA mobile services,” stated Jean-Yves Ollivaud, President of OPT NC. “Alcatel’s solution will allow us to provide a wide range of diversified services, while guaranteeing continuity in their delivery.”

“The international connectivity and significant increase in network capacity ensured by this submarine cable network will help OPT rollout new services for its end-users faster and more cost-effectively,” said Jean Godeluck, President of Alcatel’s submarine network activity “This award further confirms Alcatel’s ability to deliver tailored solutions and services that are designed to meet specific customer’s requirements.”

Alcatel will deploy its new-generation dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) submarine line terminal - the Alcatel 1620 Light Manager (LM), its cables and repeaters. Furthermore, Alcatel will install its Optical Multi-Service Node (OMSN) systems to connect the network’s landing stations. The equipment will be managed by the Alcatel 1350 management suite, which optimizes bandwidth usage for fast and reliable broadband service rollout. As part of the comprehensive set of services that will be offered, Alcatel will lay the cable using its Ile de Ré cable ship, based at Nouméa, and will be in charge of the configuration and integration of the terrestrial and submarine equipment.

With more than 461,500 km of installed submarine networks and hundreds of thousands of terrestrial systems deployed across the world, Alcatel is leading the worldwide optical networking market for the fifth year running according to industry analyst firm Ovum-RHK.

About the Post & Telecommunications Office (OPT) of New Caledonia
The Post & Telecommunications Office of New Caledonia regroups the telecommunications (fixed and mobile), mail, financial services and philately (800 agents) activities. For more information, please visit: http://www.opt.nc

About Alcatel
Alcatel provides communications solutions to telecommunication carriers, Internet service providers and enterprises for delivery of voice, data and video applications to their customers or employees. Alcatel brings its leading position in fixed and mobile broadband networks, applications and services, to help its partners and customers build a user-centric broadband world. With sales of EURO 13.1 billion and 58,000 employees in 2005, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries. For more information, visit Alcatel on the Internet: http://www.alcatel.com

Contact press@alcatel.com



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