Alcatel Wins Guadeloupe Deal

PARIS -- Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA and NYSE: ALA) today announced that it has signed a turnkey contract valued at 21 million Euros with Global Caribbean Network (GCN), a subsidiary of the Group Loret, to deploy a submarine cable network for the Regional Council of Guadeloupe. The project, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2005, will significantly expand the Guadeloupe telecommunications network capacity and will be very beneficial to the region’s economic development.

“The decision to commit to a submarine optical network was driven by the wish to serve our region’s growing communication needs, enhancing the delivery of reliable data and broadband services to our citizens at a reasonable cost," affirmed Victorin Lurel, President of Guadeloupe's Regional Council.

The new submarine cable will span nearly 800 km, connecting Basse-Terre and Point a Pitre in Guadeloupe to San Juan in Porto Rico. The cable’s route, going through St Martin with an extension to St Barthlemy, with a total of 120 Gbit/s of ultimate network capacity, will significantly expand local communications coverage.

"Taking into account the topology of the territory, the new submarine cable network will provide a cost-efficient way to give Guadeloupe multi services broadband access and connectivity to other countries in the region,” stated Ehsan Emami, President at GCN. “Alcatel’s integrated submarine and terrestrial approach will deliver great network flexibility to support carrier-class, advanced services.” Alcatel SA