By Submarine Cable NewsFeed

Alcatel-Lucent has signed a turnkey

contract with the Government of Equatorial Guinea to roll out a new, domestic submarine cable network connecting the cities of Malabo, on the northern coast of

Bioko Island, to Bata, on the continent. This new cable network will help reduce the digital divide by fostering the availability and accessibility to high quality,

innovative broadband applications at more affordable costs.

Scheduled for completion at the end of first quarter 2009, this new domestic connection will span

280 km delivering an ultimate capacity of 80 Gbps. Additionally, it will interconnect with existing and future cable routes greatly enhancing Equatorial Guinea's

international connectivity and reliability of its communications infrastructure. With its landing point in Bata, this new submarine cable network will also

contribute backhauling the traffic carried over the country's existing microwave network.

“Our citizens have experienced a fast-growing quality of life

improvement over the past years” said Mr. E. Mercader, Minister of Telecommunications, Transport and New Technologies of Equatorial Guinea. “Our commitment is to

continue evolving our living standards through a flexible communication infrastructure meeting new service demands reliably and cost-effectively.”

“This

contract confirms Alcatel-Lucent's commitment to delivering high added-value broadband services and applications that stimulate socio-economic development” stated

Etienne Lafougère, President of Alcatel-Lucent's submarine network activity. “This new contract further strengthens the role of submarine networks as a key

enabler of universal broadband services by linking every corner of the world.”