Alcatel, today announced that it has been awarded a multi-million Euro turnkey contract with Soci'et'e Nationale des Postes et T'el'ecommunications (SNPT), the national telecommunications operator in the Comorian Union to roll-out the country`s ever-first GSM network.
The introduction of mobile capabilities in the archipelago will radically improve telecommunications facilities in the three Islands of the Comorian Union, Grande Comore, Anjouan and Moh'eli, and will create new revenue streams to help in the development of the country. With a capacity of 15,000 GSM subscribers, the operator will be able to offer its customers enhanced mobile voice and data services. The opening ceremony chaired by the President of the Comorian Union, Mr. Assoumani Azali is taking place today in Moroni, the capital city located on Grande Comore island.
This deal has been concluded thanks to Alcatel mastering a full portfolio of mobile solutions and value added services as well as a long established relationship with SNPT, and after months of fierce competition.
Leveraging Alcatel`s mobile leadership in the emerging countries, this first mobile contract in the Comorian Union provides SNPT with an enhanced infrastructure through the use of Alcatel`s industry leading Evolium solution. With an estimated population of 633,000, the three islands have traditional transportation means and until now there were only 12,300 connected fixed lines in use in the country out of a total capacity of 20,000. Therefore the deployment of the first GSM network will boost communications and potential business activities in this developing region.
Under the terms of the contract, Alcatel supplies its Evolium global end-to-end mobile solution featuring complete Base Station Subsystems (BSS), including GSM/GPRS/EDGE Base Stations (BTS) and Base Station Controllers (BSC`s) and as well as the core network sub-system (NSS) including Evolium Mobile Switching Centers (MSC) and advanced Home Location Register (HLR). Alcatel will manage the global project from the first stages of implementation, taking responsibility for installation and integration, network testing and commissioning.
Oumara Mgomri, Director of SNPT declared, "This contract is a major milestone for the Comorian Union. We trust that the implementation of a mobile infrastructure will contribute further to the country`s development. It is also a key step for us as a new mobile operator. Alcatel is our main strategic supplier and partner with a proven expertise in fixed and mobile telecommunications, and has demonstrated its capability to satisfy every aspect of our network needs."
Marc Rouanne, Chief Operating Officer of Alcatel`s mobile communications activities added, "This project strengthens our excellent business relationship with SNPT, already experienced in the fixed and transmission business. This has enabled Alcatel to find the appropriate commercial and financial solution for SNPT that allowed the construction of this new network and bring "mobility" to the Comorian Union. This contract also enhances Alcatel`s position in the Indian Ocean."
Alcatel`s Evolium solution for GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks offers operators the best solution for capacity, performance and network quality and integrates all technologies, from GSM/GPRS to EDGE and UMTS for a smooth upgrade of existing network and associated services. Furthermore, Alcatel is strongly committed to considerably reduce deployment, extension, operation and evolution costs for future services.
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The National Company of Post and Telecommunications is a public company of commercial and Industrial nature created in 1989 with financial independence. Its main objective is to develop postal services as well as telecommunications for the whole Comorian territory.
In the field of telecommunications, SNPT is the only operator in the Comorian Union. SNPT owns an entirely digital fixed network with 12,300 subscribers. The fixed network is also equipped with a prepaid platform, an Internet access for 1,000 customers and now a GSM network.
All these investments have been self-financed over the last ten years except for the International Transit Exchange granted by the Indian Ocean Commission with an European Union subsidy. Thanks to its financial independence, SNPT comes in second position for the World Bank projects. In terms of employment SNPT comes second after the Government.
Financially, SNPT has maintained an annual growth of 15% over the last four years and has doubled the number of main telephone lines investing each year around five millions Euro. Its turnover in year 2002 was 10.77 million euros i.e. 13.4% increase compared to year 2001.
Alcatel
Alcatel provides end-to-end communications solutions, enabling carriers, service providers and enterprises to deliver content to any type of user, anywhere in the world. Leveraging its long-term leadership in telecommunications networks equipment as well as its expertise in applications and network services, Alcatel enables its customers to focus on optimizing their service offerings and revenue streams. With sales of EURO 16.5 billion in 2002, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries.
Alcatel is now the world`s fastest growing GSM/GPRS and EDGE supplier. Alcatel has established a dominant position in today`s expanding emerging markets, where it is now the leader, with a 25% share. Alcatel`s diversified portfolio of over 150 mobile operators includes a strong segment of greenfield operators - in Central & Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific and Africa & the Middle-East - which are poised for the most rapid expansion. Alcatel`s highly efficient business model implemented through its Evolium radio & core solutions - GPRS and EDGE ready, has significantly contributed to this success. Alcatel offers mobile operators a GSM 800, 900, 1800 and 1900MHz end-to-end solution offering, including radio access and core network systems, services platform and mobile terminals.
Moreover, the company is expanding its offering in advanced applications and services. Alcatel`s application portfolio leverages and extends the value of telecom networks. Alcatel`s Open Service Delivery Engine is the ideal applications environment based on next generation IN and J2EE technology. It enables the implementation of a wide range of applications such as network proxies, WAP or SMS gateways, messaging solutions such as UMS or MMS, 0800 and 0900 services, mobile or fixed VPN solutions, a complete and convergent real-time payment chain. Alcatel`s UMTS solutions are a reality today, with more than 20 UMTS pilot networks delivered in Europe and in Asia. Evolium SAS, the Alcatel-Fujitsu joint venture, delivers a mobile infrastructure that is 3GPP-compliant, field-proven and capitalizes on Japanese 3G technical and field experience.
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