Alcatel-Lucent selected to design and deploy advanced communications system for South Africa’s new King Shaka International Airport
Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today announced it has been awarded a multi-year contract worth approximately 34 million Euros by the Ilembe Consortium to design and deploy an integrated communication, security and IT system for the new King Shaka International Airport north of Durban, South Africa. The airport, which initially is expected to handle more than 7.5 million passengers a year, is being built in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa ™.
Alcatel-Lucent will implement a complete information and communications system for the new international airport. The company will provide project management, design, integration, installation and deployment of the solution, which will consist of 25 subsystems spanning telecoms backbone, security and IT systems.
The Alcatel-Lucent Integrated Communications Solution for Airports will form the communications backbone for the 2,000-hectare Dube TradePort site and will include an advanced e-commerce-enabled trade zone providing high-speed connections to commercial tenant sites. Based on IP/MPLS (Internet Protocol/Multiprotocol Label Switching) technology, it will deliver a set of applications that will enable airport tenants, such as the airlines, car rental companies, stores, restaurants and emergency teams to tailor, control and manage calls, messages and directories. These IP-based unified communications applications also will provide flexible, innovative collaboration tools and user-friendly access to information.
“Ilembe is privileged to be involved in the design and construction of a greenfields world-class airport not only to welcome visitors from around the world for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, but also to benefit the people of South Africa and visitors to the country for years to come,” said Duncan Barry, Ilembe Project Director. “Alcatel-Lucent has an innovative approach to providing the kind of advanced communications, security and information services we envision, and equally important, it has the expertise to make it a reality. The communications and information system will be an integral part of the overall services this new airport will offer airlines and their passengers who fly in and out of this remarkable country.”
“Alcatel-Lucent is proud to be part of the team building the King Shaka International Airport, a key element of the 2010 infrastructure and economic growth initiatives for South Africa’s Kwa-Zulu Natal Province,” said Michael Fabian, President of Alcatel-Lucent Industry and Public Sector division. “We are well-equipped to serve the transportation market with a reliable, secure, high-bandwidth, multi-service network infrastructure that meets the airline industry’s unique operational requirements. This award demonstrates the Ilembe Consortium’s confidence in the capabilities of Alcatel-Lucent.”
Fabian noted that Alcatel-Lucent will complement its own Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) credentials with the skills and expertise of local suppliers to help it meet the project’s ambitious BEE targets.
Alcatel-Lucent will deploy its 7750 Service Router in the core for IP/VPN and security, and the 5620 Service Aware Manager to ensure the highest possible quality of service, end-to-end across the MPLS backbone network.
WebWireID53732
This news content was configured by WebWire editorial staff. Linking is permitted.
News Release Distribution and Press Release Distribution Services Provided by WebWire.