Alcatel-Lucent awarded a multi-million Euro contract by RTE, the French electricity network operator, to deploy an additional fiber-optic network

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today announced that it has been selected by RTE, the French public power transmission network operator, to deploy an additional several-thousand-kilometer fiber-optic network on RTE’s high-voltage transmission grid. The agreement includes project management, engineering, supply, network installation and commissioning, as well as maintenance for the majority of the network.

This turnkey fiber-optic network, code-named ROSE 7 (Réseau Optique de SEcurité, or Optical Security Network), is the continuation of a project that began in 2004 with a 500 Km pilot project in Brittany which has grown to over 5,000 Km today. It will enable RTE to secure its electrical transmission network with reliable, fast communications links and resell excess fiber-optic capacity to telecom operators and local authorities through its subsidiary @rteria.

”Alcatel-Lucent quickly got into the mindset that project management requires; all project constraints had to be addressed, and most particularly - in the case of RTE - the operational constraints of a very high-voltage electricity network. Alcatel-Lucent had to be willing to redeploy its resources, adjust its schedules, and change the project execution at any moment, depending on our constraints,” said Luc Desmoulins, RTE Purchasing Director.

“This contract highlights Alcatel-Lucent’s extensive experience meeting all the requirements and deadlines of a major utility player, including managing and deploying a state-of-the-art network that has unique technical challenges,” said Michael Fabian, President of Alcatel-Lucent’s Enterprise and Government Services.