ACE, Alcatel-Lucent to further strengthen broadband continuity in Africa
Alcatel-Lucent 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, ACE interconnects 15 African countries, seven of which has 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 support 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 South Africa to France - via Namibia, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe, Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Côte 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 to be 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 cooperation 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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