Alcatel-Lucent and Main One Cable Company extend maintenance contract for international undersea cable
Thursday, Dec 06, 2012

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) and Main One Cable Company Limited, have renewed their marine maintenance contract for Main One's submarine cable system connecting Portugal to Nigeria over 7,000 km and contributing to enhance overall African and international connectivity. Delivering high-speed bandwidth of 1.92 Tbit/s, the Main One cable enables cost-effective access to global information, data and markets in Western Africa.

As a member of the Atlantic Private Maintenance Agreement (APMA), Main One will continue to manage and maintain its network at the highest level of performance. Under the service level agreement, Alcatel-Lucent will make available its maintenance vessels, as well as experienced, fully trained, and certified specialist personnel for cable repairs.

"To ensure the optimal network availability for continuity and quality of communications that our customers demand, we rely on world-class technical support including state-of-the-art cable ships capable of delivering rapid response repair services in any weather condition," said Bernard Logan, Main One Chief Commercial Officer. "Alcatel-Lucent's demonstrated capability and experience in all aspects of marine operations and maintenance assures and enhances the reliability of our network."

"This contract renewal further confirms Alcatel-Lucent's leading role as marine service provider to help operators maintain their networks at the highest standards of service reliability for maximum end-user confidence," said Philippe Dumont, head of Alcatel-Lucent's submarine network activity. "Combined with the recent redistribution of our maintenance vessels in the Atlantic, our Cape Verde-based cable ship will offer the shortest possible mobilization time for any repair operations off West Africa.

Alcatel-Lucent capitalizes on its unique experience as turnkey provider delivering a wide range of installation, maintenance and related services, which includes the Atlantic Private Maintenance Agreement (APMA).  Alcatel-Lucent private maintenance agreements offer a unique solution adapting to the particular maintenance philosophies of individual cable owners and their needs.  Alcatel-Lucent currently maintains over 300,000km of critical submarine cable infrastructure worldwide.

About Main One

Main One is a communications services company providing open access wholesale international connectivity and broadband capacity to countries in West Africa. We built and own the first privately owned submarine cable over a distance of 7,000 kilometres along the West African coastline, with initial landing stations in Nigeria, Ghana and Portugal. Main One provides open access, wholesale, international broadband capacity to countries along the western coast of Africa.

About Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU)

The long-trusted partner of service providers, enterprises and governments around the world, Alcatel-Lucent is a leading innovator in the field of networking and communications technology, products and services. The company is home to Bell Labs, one of the world's foremost research centers, responsible for breakthroughs that have shaped the networking and communications industry. Alcatel-Lucent was named one of MIT Technology Review's 2012 Top 50 list of the "World's Most Innovative Companies" for breakthroughs such as lightRadio™, which cuts power consumption and operating costs on wireless networks while delivering lightning fast Internet access. Through such innovations, Alcatel-Lucent is making communications more sustainable, more affordable and more accessible as we pursue our mission - Realizing the Potential of a Connected World.

Source: Alcatel-Lucent