Alcatel-Lucent signs service agreement for ACE cable system

The company, which made the deal with an ACE consortium, will help maintain 6,300km of the cable which links Africa to Portugal from its ship based in Cape Verde.

In service since December 2012, the ACE interconnects 15 African countries, seven of which it has connected to the Internet for the first time.

Yves Ruggeri, chairman of the consortium’s management committee said, “Since its commercial service, the ACE has delivered fast and cost-effective capacity to end-users and 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.”

With an ultimate design capacity of 5.12 terabits per second, the cable system provides a high-speed data network that supports broadband services such as e-education and healthcare applications and 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, the 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 also joins other African systems to the Atlantic private maintenance agreement (APMA), allowing operators to access Alcatel-Lucent’s maintenance vessels and specialist personnel for cable repairs.

Philippe Dumont, president of Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks added, “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.”