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Alcatel-Lucent and NEC win contract to supply 20,000km submarine cable network between Southeast Asia and the United States


WEBWIRE

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) and NEC Corporation (NEC) (NASDAQ: NIPNY) will jointly deploy the Asia America Gateway (AAG), the first direct Terabit submarine cable network between Southeast Asia and the United States. Spanning over 20,000 km, AAG will link Malaysia to the U.S. via Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Guam, Hawaii and the West coast of the U.S. Worth approximately USD 500 million, the contract will deliver a cable network spanning almost half the length of the equator.

The turnkey contract was signed today with a consortium formed by 10 parties including the Government of Brunei, AT&T (USA), Bharti (India), CAT (Thailand), PLDT (Philippines), PT Telkom (Indonesia), Telekom Malaysia (Malaysia), Telstra (Australia), StarHub (Singapore) and VNPT (Vietnam). Alcatel-Lucent and NEC will design, manufacture, install, integrate and commission the full network on a turnkey basis. The project is scheduled to be completed by late 2008.

The new cable network is expected to meet the forecasted explosive growth in bandwidth requirements for new and revolutionary broadband applications such as IP,video,data, and other multimedia services. In addition to providing full network diversity from the conventional cable routes, which are normally connected via North Asia, the AAG will provide a seamless direct link between the U.S. and other Asian countries via one single cable. Furthermore, it will provide connectivity and the ability to be expanded in the future to Australia, India, Africa, and Europe. International communications between the countries involved has been growing rapidly, and is expected to benefit greatly from the enhanced connectivity offered by the new cable network.

“This award further increases the significant track-record we have developed since the beginning of the year and confirms our leadership in the submarine cable industry. AAG will help operators leverage a state-of-the art submarine infrastructure for the end-users benefit,” stated Jean Godeluck, President of Alcatel-Lucent’s submarine network activity. “We are confident that this new project, rolled out in association with NEC, will further enable voice and data communications, which are vital to support social and economic development.”

“NEC’s award of the contract for the Asia America Gateway Cable Network confirms our leadership in submarine cable construction and our dedication to building an unmatched network in the Asia Pacific region. NEC is confident that our partnership with Alcatel-Lucent brings leading technology and field-proven expertise, empowering our customers to provide the most advanced and reliable services to the end users,” said Masamichi Imai, Executive General Manager of the Broadband Networks Operations Unit at NEC Corporation.



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