Africa Cellulaire (Africell) Burundi has awarded Alcatel-Lucent a three-year contract to roll-out a nationwide GSM/EDGE network.
It will enable Africell, a subsidiary of VTEL Holdings, to provide mobile services throughout Burundi.
Alcatel Lucent made the announcement at ITU Telecoms Africa 2008, in Cairo, this week. The first phase of the contract is valued at $20 million, the company says in a media statement.
Under the terms of the contract, Alcatel-Lucent will install and deploy a full end-to-end GSM/EDGE network, including base station sub-systems and next-generation-based mobile switching centres for Africell.
Alcatel-Lucent will also supply its high-capacity microwave transmission solution to support the transport of voice and data traffic from the base stations to the core network.
In addition, Alcatel-Lucent will be solely responsible for the maintenance of the operator's network.
"Alcatel-Lucent is committed to bringing to Burundi advanced communications technology and services expertise that will contribute to its economic growth," says Vincenzo Nesci, president of Alcatel-Lucent's activities in the Middle East and Africa.
He adds that the contract further confirms Alcatel-Lucent's long-term commitment to support social and economic development in Africa.
VTEL Africa CEO Nour Atout says Burundi is an important market for the company, as it has strong growth potential. According to the GSM Association, Burundi had 3% mobile phone penetration last year. Operators include Africell, Spacetell and Telecel Burundi.
Alcatel-Lucent's GSM/EDGE solutions will enable VTEL to achieve its objective of bringing mobile telephony to parts of Burundi it has not reached before, he says.
Kenyan wins
Alcatel Lucent says it has also won a three-year contract to provide Telkom Kenya with a subscriber data management solution.
This database will act as a central repository of all subscribers' information for the operator's new GSM network.
Under the terms of the contract, Alcatel-Lucent will enable the creation of a single subscriber profile for each customer and all of the services they use, the company says in a media statement.
This is in sharp contrast to the traditional method of maintaining individual subscriber databases for each service, it says.
Maintaining a centralised profile of subscribers will allow Telkom Kenya to manage its anticipated growth while controlling operational and capital expenditure, says Alcatel Lucent.
It also allows Telkom Kenya to rapidly deliver personalised services to subscribers, while laying the groundwork for future network evolution and services.
"The Kenyan mobile market still offers a high growth potential, as mobile penetration is currently less than 30% in the country," says Telkom Kenya CEO Dominique Saint-Jean.
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