Bechtel National heeft een subcontract ter waarde van 25 miljoen dollar toegekend aan Lucent Technologies. Het subcontract omvat het uitvoeren van noodreparaties en de renovatie van het communicatienetwerk in Irak.
Hieronder vindt u het volledige persbericht.
Voor meer informatie:
Annemiek Driessen
Lammers van Toorenburg Benelux PR
Tel.: 030- 65 65 070
Mob.: 06-28 87 6734
E-mail: lucent@lvtpr.nl
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BECHTEL AWARDS LUCENT TECHNOLOGIES SUBCONTRACT TO REBUILD COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK IN IRAQ
San Francisco, Calif., and Murray Hill, N.J. - Bechtel National, Inc.
and Lucent Technologies (NYSE :LU) today announced that Bechtel has awarded a 25 million dollar subcontract to Lucent Technologies to carry out emergency repair and rehabilitation of the communications network in Iraq. Bechtel estimates that as much as 80 percent of the actual deployment work will be done by Iraqi workers and engineers.
This is the first major communications infrastructure subcontract Bechtel has awarded in Iraq. This project is part of the Coalition Provisional Authority's rebuilding and reconstruction efforts. Earlier this year, Bechtel was awarded a contract in a competitive bidding process by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to design, rehabilitate, upgrade and reconstruct Iraq's infrastructure, including emergency work on the country's communications system.
"This is a milestone in the reconstruction effort being coordinated by the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq," said Cliff Mumm, Bechtel's Iraq program manager. "A reliable, flexible communications system is critical to virtually all of the work we are doing to rebuild Iraq."
Prior to the conflict, approximately 1.1 million Iraqis subscribed to the Iraqi Telephone and Post Company (ITPC) for landline telephone service. Much of the communications network was centralized in Baghdad.
In Baghdad, 240,000 out of 540,000 telephone lines are out of service.
The Lucent subcontract is directed at restoring this service.
Lucent will provide 13 central office switches, advanced optical transport technology and network management systems designed for voice and high-speed data transmissions. Lucent Worldwide Services and Bechtel will work with ITPC personnel and local Iraqi contractors to install and deploy the switching units to bring the 240,000 lines back into service within ITPC's network serving Baghdad and the region around it. In addition to rebuilding the network, Lucent will establish an aggressive program to train Iraqi personnel to enable the transition of the operations of the network to ITPC. The training programs will facilitate critical knowledge transfer to ensure a successful implementation and management of the network.
"Lucent is honored to be part of the rebuilding of Iraq. An advanced, robust communications system is important to any country, and perhaps plays an even more vital role as a country rebuilds itself," said Phillip Rosenthall, president, Lucent Technologies Middle East and Africa. "As part of its first project in Iraq, Lucent will be supplying some of its most sophisticated voice and optical transmission systems as well as professional design and deployment services. Lucent's solution includes 5ESS(r) and 5ESS(r) Very Compact Digital Exchange (VCDX) switches, the Lucent Metropolis(r) ADM Multiservice Mux, Navis(tm) Network management systems and Lucent Worldwide Services installation, deployment, operations and maintenance support. Deployment will begin next month.
About Bechtel
Bechtel is one of the world's premier engineering-construction organizations. It provides technical, management and directly related services to develop, finance, build, and operate installations for customers in a wide range of industries. Bechtel has worked on more than 20,000 projects in 140 countries on all seven continents.
Bechtel National is the government contracting arm of the Bechtel group of companies, which for more than 100 years has earned an unparalleled reputation for managing some of the world's largest, most complex, and hazardous projects.
About Lucent Technologies
Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, N.J., USA, designs and delivers networks for the world's largest communications service providers. Backed by Bell Labs research and development, Lucent relies on its strengths in mobility, optical, data and voice networking technologies as well as software and services to develop next-generation networks. The company's systems, services and software are designed to help customers quickly deploy and better manage their networks and create new, revenue-generating services that help businesses and consumers. For more information on Lucent Technologies, visit its Web site at http://www.lucent.com.
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