By Thandisizwe Mgudlwa
Alcatel-Lucent has a success story to tell.
Its stories, references and activities in Africa in 2012 is a lesson for many other organizations who what to make it big on the continent.
In a recently published document Alcatel-Lucent shares references, successes, achievement and activities in Africa; as well as vision of African Market and broadband according to Daniel Jaeger, Vice-President of Alcatel-Lucent in Africa.
News from Algiers, Algeria reveal that broadband for Africa, realize the potential of a connected world and tackle rural inclusion.
I – Alcatel-Lucent presence, activities and foot print in Africa.
II- Broadband in Africa, vision and view according to Daniel Jaeger Vice-President of Alcatel-Lucent Africa.
III – Alcatel-Lucent’s presence, achievement, success and foot print in Africa.
The study shows that Alcatel-Lucent has a very strong presence in Africa, connected to its global organization, leveraging central support and ensuring best practices, the company has dedicated teams with local knowledge and global expertise on the ground in most of Africa’s countries, specialized in a wide array of technologies for both fixed and mobile communications including and not limited to 2G, 3G, 4G/LTE, Optics and IP, broadband access, VoIP, applications, managed and professional services as well as Enterprise solutions that deliver a competitive edge to businesses of all sizes.
These experts are working with customers, operators, governments, businesses and partners which form an efficient ecosystem to develop and introduce new technologies and solutions, to ensure growth and capture business opportunities – with the ultimate goal to bring Broadband to the people in Africa. Alcatel-Lucent’s strong presence in African countries is a real asset for operators.
” Our company is ready to engage anywhere in Africa with the accurate expertise and at any level. Alcatel-Lucent is present in most of the African continent, including but not limited to Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Cameroon, Mali, Ghana, Nigeria, Togo, Kenya, Somalia, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, Angola, Madagascar, Mozambique and Zimbabwe….. The company brings an unmatched heritage of ideas and execution to the challenge of realizing the potential of a connected world.”
In term of Research & Innovation, the innovation engine behind Alcatel-Lucent is its Bell Labs, the company’s research arm, one of the world’s foremost centers of research and innovation in communication technology.
“Alcatel-Lucent has more than 29,100 active patents, in which more than 2,600 have been obtained in 2011, and seven Nobel Prizes in Physics (shared by 13 scientists). 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 – to guarantee our partners return on investment, while mastering network complexity and providing good customer experience.”
Enabling International and Pan-African connectivity- Alcatel-Lucent is involved in most of the major submarine projects recently launched.
“Leveraging over 150 years of experience in the submarine business, Alcatel-Lucent is strongly involved of the telecom infrastructure development in this part of the world, with many successful projects implemented around Africa.”
In addition, “The African continent is definitely still yearning for affordable connectivity, as it is essential for social and economic development. The need for more connections is particularly vibrant in high-growth economy countries, where submarine cable networks can help bridge the digital divide and fuel economic and social development.”
“International bandwidth in sub-Sahara countries has dramatically increased by 2012. This massive bandwidth has landed in West African and East African coasts thanks to EASSy, SEAS, GLO1, LION, MENA (Orascom Telecom), TE North (Telecom Egypt), ACE, TEAMS, Seacom, WACS and a few other submarine networks; as a result, the cost of International connectivity is reducing considerably; and the continent will witness explosive growth for mobile, fixed and broadband traffic at competitive rates.”
Alcatel-Lucent is involved in most of the submarine systems in Africa:
– ACE a 17,000 km from Cape Town in SA to Penmarch in France, linking 20 countries (Europe-Africa) and bringing connectivity to Mauritania, Gambia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Sao Tome and Principe, and Equatorial Guinea.
– Sea-Me-We 4 a 20,000 km, linking 14 countries from France to Singapore.
– SAT-3/WASC system – linking Portugal to South Africa with branches to Spain, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon and Angola.
– SAT-3/WASC reliant le Portugal à l’Afrique du Sud, avec des embranchements en Espagne, au Sénégal, en Côte d’Ivoire, au Ghana, en République du Bénin, au Nigeria, au Cameroun, au Gabon et en Angola.
– EASSy, 10,000 km submarine network linking eight countries from East Africa and Sudan to South Africa.
– Kenya-United Arab Emirates cable for the East Africa Marine System (TEAMS) consortium – spanning 4,900 km to connect Mombassa in Kenya to Fujairah in the UAE.
– WACS – 14,000 km submarine network connecting South Africa to Europe. In service in 2012.
– système sous-marin de 14 000 Km reliant l’Afrique du Sud et l’Europe. Mise en service en 2012.
– LION, connecting Toamasina in Madagascar to SainteMarie in La Réunion and Terre Rouge in Mauritius via a link of approximately 1000 km.
– SEAS 1900km linking Seychelles and Tanzania.
– GLO1: 9,800Km connected Ghana to West Africa and Europe.
– Middle East North Africa (MENA) 3 850 Km cable for Orascom Telecom, positioning Egypt as a central hub for traffic transit between Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
– TE North system for Telecom Egypt – 3,100 km, it started with ultimate capacity of 128 x 10 on each of its eight fiber pairs, which makes it one of the largest cable systems in the region. Now in service using 40G technology.
– Atlas Offshore for Maroc Telecom – linking the cities of Asilah in Morocco to Marseille in France, over more than 1,630 km. It directly interconnects Maroc Telecom with the various European operators.
Alcatel-Lucent to bring faster, higher-quality broadband to Africa: In Africa, Alcatel-Lucent is focused on three major segments; infrastructure, applications and services; all three are critical to its long-term commitment to its Customers.’
Furthermore, “In terms of revenues, investment and local presence, Alcatel-Lucent has a major role in building and transforming Africa’s telecommunications networks for many world-class fixed and mobile operators in Africa, including but not limited to Airtel, Kenya Data Networks (KDN), Uganda Telecom, Orange, Etisalat Nigeria, Globacom (Nigeria and Ghana), MTN, Unitel Angola, Mcel Mozambique, TDM Mozambique, Vodacom, Telkom South Africa, Smile, Togo Cellulaire, Tigo Millicom Ghana, Telesis Tanzania, Algerie Telecom, Maroc Telecom, Inwi Morocco, Tunisiana, Orascom Telecom along with many other international key players, regional and local service providers.
Additionally, Alcatel-Lucent is also present in the Oil and Gas sector and with various governments – bringing advanced, affordable and convenient services to its customers across the region.
Fast fact on Alcatel-Lucent’s achievements in Africa including but not limited to:
In North Africa:
– In December 2012, Alcatel-Lucent and Tunisiana sidned a four-year agreement to build a new superfast wireline broadband high capacity access network across Tunisia.
– In 2011, Tunisiana selected Alcatel-Lucent for complete mobile network IP transformation.
– In 2010, Alcatel-Lucent deployed turnkey communications solution for gas extraction, treatment and transport system to Saipem in Algeria (a leading Engineering Procurement and Construction contractor in the oil and gas industry).
– In 2009, Alcatel-Lucent accompanied Sonatrach the first oil & gas Algerian company to evolve its telecommunication network.
– In 2009, Maroc Telecom selected Alcatel-Lucent to migrate and integrate its billing and customer care solution.
– In 2008, Morocco’s WANA (Inwi) and Alcatel-Lucent signed a frame agreement for wireless transmission and network integration services.
– En 2007, Tunisie Telecom selected Alcatel-Lucent’s broadband access solution for triple play and VPNs.
In West and Central Africa:
– In December 2012, Alcatel-Lucent and Main One Cable Company have renewed their marine maintenance contract for Main One’s submarine cable system connecting Portugal to Nigeria over 7,000 km.
– In December 2012, Alcatel-Lucent builds Airtel’s IP/MPLS network backbone across Africa; to help the operator meet rapidly growing demand for mobile broadband services. This new backbone network will support all mobile broadband services to Airtel’s 17 affiliates across Africa – serving 60 million customers.
– In November 2012, in the frame of a new 2012 network expansion, Togocellulaire selected Alcatel-Lucent for a major transformation of the West African mobile operator’s network, boosting its GSM and 3G broadband capacity, quality and reliability across the country.
– In September 2012, Alcatel-Lucent extends Ghana’s e-government services to rural regions for NITA Ghana’s National Information Technology Agency. (fiber optics backbone and managed services).
– In August 2012, Etisalat Nigeria selected Alcatel-Lucent Optism™ to introduce permission-based mobile advertising to over thirteen million customers.
– In 2011, Etisalat Nigeria renewed managed services contract with Alcatel-Lucent.
– In 2011, Tigo (Millicom) Ghana and Alcatel-Lucent bring personalized mobile advertising to millions of subscribers in Ghana.
– In 2011, MTN Nigeria selected Alcatel-Lucent for DSL access and aggregation network transformation.
– In 2008, Alcatel-Lucent and Globacom succesfully launched Nigeria’s first commercial 3G UMTS/HSPA mobile broadbdand network and the operator selected ALU to deliver converged multimedia services.
In East and South Africa:
– In December 2012, Alcatel-Lucent builds Airtel’s IP/MPLS network backbone across Africa; to help the operator meet rapidly growing demand for mobile broadband services. This new backbone network will support all mobile broadband services to Airtel’s 17 affiliates across Africa – serving 60 million customers.
– In November 2012, Smile and Alcatel-Lucent to expand availability of 4G services in Africa (Network launched in Tanzania in June to be followed by extension of mobile broadband network to Uganda).
– In November 2012, Alcatel-Lucent and Angola Cables, a consortium of Angolan telecoms operators to connect Southern Africa in Angola and the global community through a superfast terrestrial data link based on the 100G optical coherent technology.
– In October 2012, Alcatel-Lucent and Telesis Tanzania to help stimulate industry and economic development with launch of 4G LTE mobile broadband service.
– In June 2012, Alcatel-Lucent supplies network equipment to enable Telkom South Africa to expand the delivery of superfast broadband services across the country.
– In 2010, Alcatel-Lucent has been selected by Kenya Data Networks (KDN) to further extend and upgrade its IP/MPLS network which is based on the Alcatel-Lucent Triple Play Service Delivery Architecture (TPSDA).
– In 2009, Orange Uganda selected Alcatel-Lucent to build and manage its mobile network.
– In 2008, Alcatel-Lucent has been selected by Unitel S.A in Angola to expand and enhance its wireless network with the latest generation of Alcatel-Lucent’s GSM/EDGE radio equipment.
– In 2009, Bechtel selected Alcatel-Lucent to deploy a fully integrated end-to-end communications solution for Angola LNG Plant.
– In 2009, TDM (Telecomunicacoes de Mocambique) selected Alcatel-Lucent to extend nation-wide optical backbone and bridge digital divide in Mozambique.
– In 2008, Alcatel-Lucent signed contract with mcel Mozambique to deploy 3G network covering key markets in the country.
Daniel Jaeger vice-President of Alcatel-Lucent Africa speaking on Africa market and his vision; he said: Africa is a growing market and a clear focus area for Alcatel-Lucent; it is among the company’s most promising markets. Broadband being one of the top priorities in the continent, and with the arrival of the submarine cables; good progress has been made to connect landing points, national backbones connect the regional hubs, but the connectivity to smaller places and rural areas is still poor, at large.
“Alcatel-Lucent is gaining more and more ground on the African continent. Service and network providers appreciate the focus of our company on the most cost-effective and innovative products, architectures and business models, mastering the totality of topics related to telecom business. We have the strong belief that constant technology innovations in the various domains will lead to the optimal end-to-end network transformation strategy for the service and network providers’ community.”
“Africa has a vast demand for connectivity – more and more broadband – on top of its infrastructure needs in some areas. More developed areas where existing infrastructures must now deliver high-quality broadband connectivity to support services like high-speed Internet access. The globalization of the economy and the growth of the internet have enhanced worldwide communications. End users wherever based in a remote village or in a big city should rely on stable telecommunications connections to enquire about the wider world and make their contribution to it. The convergence of services (broadband internet + video on demand + voice) has become a significant reality. Telecom operators, service providers, enterprises rely on their networks to run their voice, data and internet communication.”
He also added: “Africa is in need of affordable connectivity, which is essential for its social and economic development. Increasing the availability of high-bandwidth connections is crucial for Africa’s future development – also high growth in smart phones sales is dramatically changing usage patterns. On the other hand, the internet continues to become unwired; it remains a catalyst for change, for development and innovation, while operators and service providers are embracing the economic opportunity while coping with the capacity challenge.”
“Having said that, universal access to all will break network barriers to enrich and improve end users mobile broadband experience – The only economical way to satisfy the mass market hunger for mobile broadband is to capture all circuit-switched, packet-switched, fixed access and aggregation networks in a single, end-to-end IP architecture — But operators need more than cutting edge technology, as this challenge requires a technology partner that can translate break through innovation into operational excellence in the field with proven capabilities in wireless and IP with the aim of providing simplified, flexible and cost effective networks.
Alcatel-Lucent promotes diversity, inclusiveness and respect across the world. Its employee base represents a multitude of various nationalities capable to communicate between each other, while carrying Alcatel-Lucent values which are the company’s cornerstones at the heart of everything we do: Customers First, Innovation, Teamwork, Respect, Ethic and Accountability,” the study adds.