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Africa Coast to Europe consortium and Alcatel-Lucent further strengthen broadband continuity in Africa with maintenance service agreement

Maintenance of the ACE system will be supported by Cape Verde-based Alcatel-Lucent cable ship.


Johannesburg, 24 Apr 2013

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) and the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) consortium have signed a contract for the maintenance of more than 6 300km of the ACE system linking Africa to Portugal. In commercial service since December 2012, today ACE interconnects 15 African countries, seven of which have been connected to the global Internet backbone for the first time.

With an ultimate design capacity of 5.12 Terabit/s, ACE provides a high-speed data network that cost-effectively supports innovative broadband services such as e-education and healthcare applications, and that is designed to address present and future needs for connectivity and capacity.

The overall system spans 17 000km linking SA to France - via Namibia, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe, Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, C^ote d'Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, The Gambia, Senegal, Mauritania, Tenerife (Spain) and Portugal.

ACE joins other African systems into the Atlantic Private Maintenance Agreement (APMA), allowing operators to access Alcatel-Lucent's maintenance vessels, as well as experienced, fully trained, and certified specialist personnel for cable repairs.

Yves Ruggeri, Chairman of the consortium's Management Committee, said: "Since its commercial service, ACE has delivered fast and cost-effective capacity to end-users, demonstrating a valid alternative route to provide everyone with broadband access. Alcatel-Lucent's turnkey expertise and experience will help us maintain the reliability and continuity of services that are so crucial to social and economic development."

Philippe Dumont, President of Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks, said: "This contract further strengthens Alcatel-Lucent's leading role as a marine service provider, helping operators ensure optimal network availability and quality of service. We are pleased to continue our co-operation with the ACE consortium to deliver a tailored solution adapting to the particular maintenance philosophies of individual cable owners and their needs."

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Alcatel-Lucent's Submarine Networks marine operations

Alcatel-Lucent capitalises on its unique experience as a turnkey provider, delivering a wide range of installation and commissioning, and marine operations and maintenance performed by its fleet of seven cable ships. Alcatel-Lucent also offers related services, including the Atlantic Private Maintenance Agreement (APMA), and currently maintains over 300 000km of critical submarine cable infrastructure worldwide.

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 centres, responsible for breakthroughs that have shaped the networking and communications industry.

Alcatel-Lucent innovations are regularly recognised by international institutions for their positive impact on society. In 2012 and for the second year running, Alcatel-Lucent was named one of the Thomson Reuters Top 100 Global Innovators, recognition for the company's continued addition to its world-class patent portfolio, one of the largest in the telecoms industry. Alcatel-Lucent has also been recognised for its sustainability performance. In 2012, the company was ranked Technology Supersector Leader by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. Through its innovations, Alcatel-Lucent is making communications more sustainable, more affordable and more accessible as it pursues its mission of 'realising the potential of a connected world'.

With operations throughout the world, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with global reach. The company achieved revenue of euro 14.4 billion in 2012 and is incorporated in France and headquartered in Paris.

For more information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com, read the latest posts on the Alcatel-Lucent blog http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/blog and follow the company on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Alcatel_Lucent.

Alcatel-Lucent Investor Relations
Frank Maccary
frank.maccary@alcatel-lucent.com
T: (+33) 01 40 76 12 11

Tom Bevilacqua
thomas.bevilacqua@alcatel-lucent.com
T: (+19) 08 582 7998

Coralie Spaeter
coralie.spaeter@alcatel-lucent.com
T: (+33) 01 40 76 49 08