June 24, 2010 – Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today announced it has been selected as a strategic supplier for the rollout of Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN) – the largest single infrastructure investment in Australian history and a platform to drive and enable Australia’s digital economy.
The NBN Co has committed an initial Aus$70M fixed price purchase and has also committed to spend up to $1.5bn on this highly specialised network equipment during the lifetime of this project.
Alcatel-Lucent will provide state-of-the-art GPON (Gigabit Passive Optical Network) equipment, aggregation and engineering assistance to the National Broadband Network Company (NBNCo). The organisation will roll out a 100 Mbit/s Fibre to The Premise (FTTP) broadband network to 90 percent of Australian premises over an eight year period. The NBN will support a vibrant and innovative Retail Service Provider eco-system, delivering life changing new services to Australian homes, businesses and communities.
Alcatel-Lucent’s CEO, Ben Verwaayen said, “The Australian NBN is one of the most important initiatives in our industry. The world is watching.”
He added, “Infrastructure projects of this scale demand and command leading edge technology and smart solutions. We are committed to delivering both.”
Today’s announcement is an important milestone in the deployment of the National Broadband Network, Alcatel-Lucent Australia’s Managing Director Andrew Butterworth says.
“The NBN offers innovation opportunities for all industries in Australia. Now we need to take advantage of it and explore how broadband networks can deliver life changing services.”
Alcatel-Lucent has deployed 100 fibre to the home networks globally, of which more than 85 of these have used GPON technology, including Verizon in the United States, France Telecom and Hong Kong Broadband. The company has a proud history in Australia, with more than 100 years of local experience, including deploying the first Sydney-Melbourne Trunk line in 1907, connecting Australia to the world with many submarine projects and voice infrastructure, and the leading supplier of fixed broadband technology in Australia.