1

Alcatel-Lucent Press Extract – Africa 1st week of October 2012

NITA and Alcatel-Lucent extend Ghana e-government services to rural regions.

2

3

4

http://www.businessghana.com/portal/news/index.php?op=getNews&news_cat_id=&id=174189

Alcatel-Lucent extends Ghana's e-government services to rural regions New fiber-optic network and project management service for Ghana's National Information Technology Agency to bring a range of online services to government offices in remote areas of the country. Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) and NITA - the information and communications technology (ICT) policy arm of Ghana’s Ministry of Communications - are to dramatically expand communication links between central and regional administration offices in support of 'e-Ghana, a national initiative to develop local IT services and improve the transparency and efficiency of government functions. Alcatel-Lucent will design and implement a 600km fiber-optic “backbone” network that will provide high-speed data links between central government functions and remote and rural locations. In addition, Alcatel-Lucent will provide a national data center facility to support the network, through close collaboration with HP, a global alliance partner for the delivery of converged ICT solutions. Under the agreement with NITA (National Information Technology Agency), Alcatel-Lucent will also manage network operations of Ghana's entire 'e-government' program for three years commencing November 2012. Financing for the program is being facilitated by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), an office of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs tasked with combating poverty through the promotion of human rights and economic growth. The new network, which will link Ghana's north and south as well as international submarine

5

gateways via its eastern corridor, will use Alcatel-Lucent's 100 gigabit per second (100G)-capable optical coherent technology. This advanced fiber-optic technology will enhance business efficiencies between central and regional government offices and maintain quality and reliability across a telephone service, email and other Internet-based e-services. The network will easily be able to expand to support anticipated increases in future demand: the government intends to extend use of e-services to the health, education, justice, immigration, parliament and other sectors over the next few years. William Tevie, Director General of NITA said: "By delivering a new network and data center, Alcatel-Lucent will enable us to streamline government processes between central and rural divisions and provide a consistent external view. This is an important step toward realizing the vision of giving our people access to a range of critical services how and when they need them." The Danish Minister for Development, Mr Christian Friis Bach said: "Information and communication technology (ICT) is an important platform for sustainable growth and development. It can provide access to information on basic health, education and relevant business data. ICT can also strengthen democracy and increase transparency, accountability and empowerment. I am very pleased that Denmark and Danish technical solutions in this way can contribute to Ghana's further economic development" Daniel Jaeger, Vice-President of Alcatel-Lucent in Africa said: "Alcatel-Lucent has a long history of providing communications solutions to meet customers’ e-business needs across the globe. Combined with our managed services expertise we are able to implement the best organization and processes to help continuously improve the services available to Ghana's citizens." Hakan Yuce, Worldwide VP of Global Strategic Alliances at Alcatel-Lucent added: "The NITA project demonstrates the clear value to our customers of a seamless solution for converged IT and telecommunications networking needs. Through our global alliance, Alcatel-Lucent and HP are able to deliver to our customers the broadest ICT portfolio available." Alcatel-Lucent's solution for NITA Ghana The network being installed in Ghana will apply the 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS). The 1830 PSS offers exceptional capacity, performance, agility and intelligence for the transport of very large amounts of data over long distances and can support a mixture of 10G, 40G and 100G channels on the same fiber pair, helping ensure support for future needs as demand grows. Alcatel-Lucent will work with local IT hardware and services provider, IPMC, to establish a large-scale data center using state-of-the-art data center, server and storage infrastructure from HP, which will host all of the e-Government project information. It will also host a Genesys helpdesk solution, a performance rating platform and e-learning systems from Saba. Alcatel-Lucent will implement voice communication, email and other data services to enhance communication across all government bodies, while managing the complete operation of the e-Government network including the backbone, data center and services for three years. Alcatel-Lucent will also train NITA's employees to ensure a seamless transfer of knowledge so that the NITA teams can take over the full network operation responsibility by the end of the three-year period.

6

http://www.viasat1.com.gh/v1/vnews/business.php?postId=335

7

http://www.ghananewsagency.org/details/Science/Eastern-Corridor-Fibre-Optic-Broadband-Backbone-project-commences/?ci=8&ai=49865

Eastern Corridor Fibre Optic Broadband Backbone project commences

29th September 2012 Ho, Sept. 29, GNA - A 680-kilometre Fibre Optic Broadband Backbone Infrastructure project stretching from Ho in the Volta Region to Bawku in the Upper-East Region has commenced with a groundbreaking ceremony in Ho on Friday. The project, known as the Eastern Corridor Fibre Optic Infrastructure, will also branch off from Yendi into Tamale to complete the backbone loop of the country, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, Minister of Communication, said at the ceremony. The 38 million euros project, to be undertaken by Alcatel-Lucent of Denmark, covers 27 municipal and district assemblies is billed to be completed in December 2013. Mr Iddrisu said an independent engineer would be engaged to effectively manage the risks associated with the project delivery and mitigate them in the mutual interest of both parties in line with international best practice. He said: “The fibre infrastructure we are going to develop will be linked to the network already developed in other parts of the country to make it possible for the provision of network access to all districts to facilitate the delivery of government services efficiently to the citizens. "It is expected that with high-speed connectivity available in all corners of the country, especially the rural areas, priva0te businesses will take advantage to use the facility to operate their businesses and new avenues also opened to support entrepreneurial development to create jobs.” Mr Iddrisu gave the assurance that the technology to be applied in laying the cables would ensure that there would be no visible excavations and no destruction to streets or roads. He asked for the co-operation of all district and municipal assemblies and communities along the way to support the project. Answering questions at a news briefing, officials from the National Information and Technology Agency (NITA) and Alcatel-Lucent, said because the technology to be applied would carry out excavations deep down the surface of the ground there would be minimal and isolated surface excavations. This would rule out any negative environmental effects from the project. Regarding the lifespan of the project, they said a well thought-out financing module would go into its management to generate enough revenue to sustain itself and expand.

8

They also allayed fears that the project might not be continued should there be a change of government. This is because Information Communication Technology ( ICT) is an international phenomenon which no government could ill-afford to truncate because it is the heart that drives the global economy. They said earlier ICT projects started by other governments were adopted by successive governments because of their universal importance.

http://www.gbcghana.com/new/index.php?id=1.1082595

Ghana to have a National Data Centre Telecoms service provider, Alcatel-Lucent is to establish a national data centre for Ghana.

The project is in partnership with Hewlett-Packard and IPMC, a local IT service provider. The company announced this September 29, 2012 after it signed a three-year deal to manage Ghana’s e-project on behalf of the National Information Technology Agency (NITA). “Alcatel-Lucent will work with local IT hardware and services provider, IPMC, to establish a large-scale data center using state-of-

the-art data center, server and storage infrastructure from HP, which will host all of the e-Government project information,” it said in a statement. It will also host a Genesys helpdesk solution, a performance rating platform and e-learning systems from Saba. Alcatel-Lucent will also host a Genesys helpdesk solution, a performance rating platform and e-learning systems from Saba. William Tevie, Director General of NITA was quoted as saying “By delivering a new network and data center, Alcatel-Lucent will enable us to streamline government processes between central and rural divisions and provide a consistent external view. This is an important step toward realizing the vision of giving our people access to a range of critical services how and when they need them.” Alcatel-Lucent will also train NITA’s employees to ensure a seamless transfer of knowledge so that the NITA teams can take over the full network operation responsibility by the end of the three-year period.

9

http://www.ghana.gov.gh/index.php/component/content/article/96-top-headlines/16479-eastern-corridor-fibre-optic-broadband-infrastructure-project-commences

Eastern Corridor Fibre Optic Broadband Infrastructure Project Commences

Government, in collaboration with the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) and Alcatel-Lucent, is facilitating the development of a Fibre Optic Backbone Infrastructure on the country’s Eastern Corridor to support the deployment of the national e-Government Network.

The Eastern Corridor Project, stretching nearly 600 kilometres from Ho in the Volta region to Bawku in the Upper East region, will be linked to the existing network in other parts of the country and facilitate network access to 27 District and Municipal Assemblies and surrounding communities.

The project, which will be designed and implemented by Alcatel-Lucent— a leading innovator in the field of networking and communications technology, products and services— has the construction of a Data Centre and a Managed Services component, to ensure the security of data on the entire network. It is being funded by the Government of Denmark at a cost of US$38 million.

The Fibre Optic Backbone Infrastructure is expected to bridge the digital divide between urban and rural communities and promote Information and Communication Technology (ICT) applications to support education, health delivery, e-government business development, agriculture development and national security, among others.

Speaking at a ground-breaking ceremony for the commencement of the project in Ho, the Volta regional capital, on Friday, Minister for Communications, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, reiterated government’s commitment to deploying IT infrastructure for accelerated economic and social development.

Hon. Iddrisu was emphatic that ICT was no longer a luxury, but a necessity which held the key to economic and social transformation.

The Eastern Corridor project, he said, was expected to improve call quality and call congestion, and, therefore, stimulate more economic activities, generate employment opportunities and enhance the delivery of government services in a more timely and efficient manner.

Hon. Iddrisu urged all stakeholders, especially the implementing contractor, Alcatel-Lucent, and the National Information Technology Agency (NITA), the ICT policy arm of the Ministry of Communications, to work hard to complete the project in the one-year project implementation period.

He also called on Regional Ministers, Municipal and District Assemblies as well as the communities that would benefit directly from the project to provide the required support to ensure that the project was successfully implemented.

He pledged to collaborate with the Minister for Roads and Highways to ensure that issues of right of way were handled with dispatch while ensuring that environmental regulations were strictly adhered to.

10

In a statement, the Director-General of NITA, Mr William Tevie, noted that by delivering a new network and data centre, Alcatel-Lucent would help streamline government processes between central and rural divisions and provide a consistent external view, adding that it was an important step towards the realisation of the vision of giving Ghanaians access to a range of critical services and how and when they needed them.

The Danish Minister for Development, Mr Christian Friis Bach, was pleased that Denmark and Danish technical solutions were contributing to Ghana’s economic development, as the project would strengthen democracy and increase transparency, accountability and empowerment.

For his part, Mr Daniel Jaeger, Vice President of Alcatel-Lucent, gave the assurance that the project would be successfully implemented to help improve the services available to Ghanaians.

In November 2008, the Government of Ghana approved a US$30 million Chinese Government loan facility for the construction of the initial phase of a nationwide e-Government infrastructure of Ghana.

However, the National Fibre Optic Network that currently supports the e-Government Network is without the Eastern Corridor, hence the need for government to invest in this area and build more resilience into the Fibre Backbone and expand e-Government Network to the entire country.

In another development, the Minister for Communications, Hon. Iddrisu, on Friday, inaugurated a Based Transmission Station, a rural telephony system, at Botoku, a rural community in the South Danyi District of the Volta region.

The facility was a private initiative by K-NET Limited, a leader in Communication and networking industry, in partnership with the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEX).

Hon. Iddrisu disclosed that substantial resources had been committed by government under the Universal Access Fund to facilitate internet access in areas which network operators did not find profitable to operate.

He said so far, 10 communities including Botoku had benefitted from the facility while 20 other communities would receive telephone and internet connectivity before the end of the year.

This, he said, would enhance healthcare delivery and facilitate research for educational purposes, among other benefits.

11

http://spyghana.com/ghana-general-news/reports/press-releases/alcatel-lucent-extends-ghanas-e-government-services-to-rural-regions/

Alcatel-Lucent extends Ghana’s e-government services to rural regions New fiber-optic network and project management service for Ghana’s National Information Technology Agency to bring a range of online services to government offices in remote areas of the country

Alcatel Team

Paris and Accra, September 28, 2012 - Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) and NITA – the information and communications technology (ICT) policy arm of Ghana’s Ministry of Communications – are to dramatically expand communication links between central and regional administration offices in support of ‘e-Ghana, a national initiative to develop local IT services and improve the transparency and efficiency of government functions.

Alcatel-Lucent will design and implement a 600km fiber-optic ‘backbone’ network that will provide high-speed data links between central government functions and remote and rural locations. In addition, Alcatel-Lucent will provide a national data center facility to support the network, through close collaboration with HP, a global alliance partner for the delivery of converged ICT solutions.

Under the agreement with NITA (National Information Technology Agency), Alcatel-Lucent will also manage network operations of Ghana’s entire ‘e-government’ program for three years commencing November 2012. Financing for the program is being facilitated by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), an office of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs tasked with combating poverty through the promotion of human rights and economic growth.

The new network, which will link Ghana’s north and south as well as international submarine gateways via its eastern corridor, will use Alcatel-Lucent’s 100 gigabit per second (100G)-capable optical coherent technology. This advanced fiber-optic technology will enhance business efficiencies

12

between central and regional government offices and maintain quality and reliability across a telephone service, email and other Internet-based e-services.

The network will easily be able to expand to support anticipated increases in future demand: the government intends to extend use of e-services to the health, education, justice, immigration, parliament and other sectors over the next few years.

William Tevie, Director General of NITA said: “By delivering a new network and data center, Alcatel-Lucent will enable us to streamline government processes between central and rural divisions and provide a consistent external view. This is an important step toward realizing the vision of giving our people access to a range of critical services how and when they need them.”

The Danish Minister for Development, Mr Christian Friis Bach said: “Information and communication technology (ICT) is an important platform for sustainable growth and development. It can provide access to information on basic health, education and relevant business data. ICT can also strengthen democracy and increase transparency, accountability and empowerment. I am very pleased that Denmark and Danish technical solutions in this way can contribute to Ghana’s further economic development”

Daniel Jaeger, Vice-President of Alcatel-Lucent in Africa said: “Alcatel-Lucent has a long history of providing communications solutions to meet customers’ e-business needs across the globe. Combined with our managed services expertise we are able to implement the best organization and processes to help continuously improve the services available to Ghana’s citizens.”

Hakan Yuce, Worldwide VP of Global Strategic Alliances at Alcatel-Lucent added: “The NITA project demonstrates the clear value to our customers of a seamless solution for converged IT and telecommunications networking needs. Through our global alliance, Alcatel-Lucent and HP are able to deliver to our customers the broadest ICT portfolio available.”

Alcatel-Lucent’s solution for NITA Ghana

The network being installed in Ghana will apply the 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS). The 1830 PSS offers exceptional capacity, performance, agility and intelligence for the transport of very large amounts of data over long distances and can support a mixture of 10G, 40G and 100G channels on the same fiber pair, helping ensure support for future needs as demand grows.

Alcatel-Lucent will work with local IT hardware and services provider, IPMC, to establish a large-scale data center using state-of-the-art data center, server and storage infrastructure from HP, which will host all of the e-Government project information. It will also host a Genesys helpdesk solution, a performance rating platform and e-learning systems from Saba.

Alcatel-Lucent will implement voice communication, email and other data services to enhance communication across all government bodies, while managing the complete operation of the e-Government network including the backbone, data center and services for three years. Alcatel-Lucent will also train NITA’s employees to ensure a seamless transfer of knowledge so that the NITA teams can take over the full network operation responsibility by the end of the three-year period.

About Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU)

The long-trusted partner of service providers, enterprises and governments around the world, Alcatel-Lucent is a leading innovator in the field of networking and communications technology, products and services. The company is home to Bell Labs, one of the world’s foremost research centers, responsible for breakthroughs that have shaped the networking and communications industry. Alcatel-Lucent was named one of MIT Technology Review’s 2012 Top 50 list of the “World’s

13

Most Innovative Companies” for breakthroughs such as lightRadio™, which cuts power consumption and operating costs on wireless networks while delivering lightning fast Internet access. Through such innovations, Alcatel-Lucent is making communications more sustainable, more affordable and more accessible as we pursue our mission – Realizing the Potential of a Connected World.

With operations in more than 130 countries and one of the most experienced global services organizations in the industry, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with global reach. The Company achieved revenues of Euro 15.3 billion in 2011 and is incorporated in France and headquartered in Paris.

http://www.ghheadlines.com/agency/ghana-business-news/20120930/383300/alcatel-lucent-to-partner-hp--ipmc-to-build-data-centre-for-ghana---

Alcatel-Lucent to partner HP, IPMC to build data centre for Ghana

Telecoms service provider, Alcatel-Lucent is to establish a national data centre for Ghana.The project is in partnership with Hewlett-Packard and IPMC, a local IT service provider.

The company announced this September 29, 2012 after it signed a three-year deal to manage Ghana’s e-project on behalf of the National Information Technology Agency (NITA).

“Alcatel-Lucent will work with local IT hardware and services provider, IPMC, to establish a large-scale data center using state-of-the-art data center, server and storage infrastructure from HP, which will host all of the e-Government project information,” it said in a statement.

It will also host a Genesys helpdesk solution, a performance rating platform and e-learning systems from Saba.

Alcatel-Lucent will also host a Genesys helpdesk solution, a performance rating platform and e-learning systems from Saba.

William Tevie, Director General of NITA was quoted as saying “By delivering a new network and data center, Alcatel-Lucent will enable us to streamline government processes between central and rural divisions and provide a consistent external view. This is an important step toward realizing the vision of giving our people access to a range of critical services how and when they need them.”

Alcatel-Lucent will also train NITA’s employees to ensure a seamless transfer of knowledge so that the NITA teams can take over the full network operation responsibility by the end of the three-year period.

14

http://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/alcatel-lucent-secures-three-year-deal-to-manage-entire-e-ghana-project/

Alcatel-Lucent to partner HP, IPMC to build data centre for Ghana

Telecoms service provider, Alcatel-Lucent is to establish a national data centre for Ghana.

The project is in partnership with Hewlett-Packard and IPMC, a local IT service provider.

The company announced this September 29, 2012 after it signed a three-year deal to manage Ghana’s e-project on behalf of the National Information Technology Agency (NITA).

“Alcatel-Lucent will work with local IT hardware and services provider, IPMC, to establish a large-scale data center using state-of-the-art data center, server and storage infrastructure from HP, which will host all of the e-Government project information,” it said in a statement.

It will also host a Genesys helpdesk solution, a performance rating platform and e-learning systems from Saba.

Alcatel-Lucent will also host a Genesys helpdesk solution, a performance rating platform and e-learning systems from Saba.

William Tevie, Director General of NITA was quoted as saying “By delivering a new network and data center, Alcatel-Lucent will enable us to streamline government processes between central and rural divisions and provide a consistent external view. This is an important step toward realizing the vision of giving our people access to a range of critical services how and when they need them.”

Alcatel-Lucent will also train NITA’s employees to ensure a seamless transfer of knowledge so that the NITA teams can take over the full network operation responsibility by the end of the three-year period.

15

http://www.africabusinesscommunities.com/index.php/rss-abc-news/200892-alcatel-lucent-extends-ghana-s-e-government-services-to-rural-regions

Alcatel-Lucent extends Ghana’s e-government services to rural regions

Alcatel-Lucent and NITA - the information and communications technology (ICT) policy arm of Ghana’s Ministry of Communications - are to dramatically expand communication links between central and regional administration offices in support of e-Ghana, a national initiative to develop local IT services and improve the transparency and efficiency of government functions.

Alcatel-Lucent will design and implement a 600km fiber-optic ‘backbone’ network that will provide high-speed data links between central government functions and remote and rural locations. In addition, Alcatel-Lucent will provide a national data center facility to support the network, through close collaboration with HP, a global alliance partner for the delivery of converged ICT solutions.

Under the agreement with NITA (National Information Technology Agency), Alcatel-Lucent will also manage network operations of Ghana’s entire ‘e-government’ program for three years commencing November 2012. Financing for the program is being facilitated by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), an office of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs tasked with combating poverty through the promotion of human rights and economic growth.

The new network, which will link Ghana’s north and south as well as international submarine gateways via its eastern corridor, will use Alcatel-Lucent’s 100 gigabit per second (100G)-capable optical coherent technology. This advanced fiber-optic technology will enhance business efficiencies between central and regional government offices and maintain quality and reliability across a telephone service, email and other Internet-based e-services.

The network will easily be able to expand to support anticipated increases in future demand: the government intends to extend use of e-services to the health, education, justice, immigration, parliament and other sectors over the next few years.

William Tevie, Director General of NITA said: “By delivering a new network and data center, Alcatel-Lucent will enable us to streamline government processes between central and rural divisions and provide a consistent external view. This is an important step toward realizing the vision of giving our people access to a range of critical services how and when they need them.”

The Danish Minister for Development, Mr. Christian Friis Bach said: “Information and communication technology (ICT) is an important platform for sustainable growth and development. It can provide access to information on basic health, education and relevant business data. ICT can also strengthen democracy and increase transparency, accountability and empowerment. I am very pleased that Denmark and Danish technical solutions in this way can contribute to Ghana's further economic development.”

Daniel Jaeger, Vice-President of Alcatel-Lucent in Africa said: “Alcatel-Lucent has a long history of providing communications solutions to meet customers’ e-business needs across the globe.

16

Combined with our managed services expertise we are able to implement the best organization and processes to help continuously improve the services available to Ghana’s citizens.”

Hakan Yuce, Worldwide VP of Global Strategic Alliances at Alcatel-Lucent added: “The NITA project demonstrates the clear value to our customers of a seamless solution for converged IT and telecommunications networking needs. Through our global alliance, Alcatel-Lucent and HP are able to deliver to our customers the broadest ICT portfolio available.”

Alcatel-Lucent’s solution for NITA Ghana

The network being installed in Ghana will apply the 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS). The 1830 PSS offers exceptional capacity, performance, agility and intelligence for the transport of very large amounts of data over long distances and can support a mixture of 10G, 40G and 100G channels on the same fiber pair, helping ensure support for future needs as demand grows.

Alcatel-Lucent will work with local IT hardware and services provider, IPMC, to establish a large-scale data center using state-of-the-art data center, server and storage infrastructure from HP, which will host all of the e-Government project information. It will also host a Genesys helpdesk solution, a performance rating platform and e-learning systems from Saba.

Alcatel-Lucent will implement voice communication, email and other data services to enhance communication across all government bodies, while managing the complete operation of the e-Government network including the backbone, data center and services for three years. Alcatel-Lucent will also train NITA’s employees to ensure a seamless transfer of knowledge so that the NITA teams can take over the full network operation responsibility by the end of the three-year period.

17

http://www.cajnewsagency.com/index.php/investing/1259-ghana-cuts-sod-for-38-million-euros-fibre-optic-backbone-project

Ghana cuts sod for 38 million Euros Fibre optic backbone project

From MASAHUDU KUNATEH in Accra, Ghana Ghana Bureau Chief ACCRA, (CAJ News) - GHANA has cut a sod for the construction of 38 million Euros Fibre optic backbone project.

The 680-kilometre Fibre Optic Broadband Backbone project which stretches from Ho in the Volta Region to Bawku in the Upper-East Region of Ghana when completed would provide sufficient broadband capacities to enhance the work of the various Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the country.

The 38 million euros project is being undertaken by Alcatel-Lucent of Denmark.

It covers 27 municipal and district assemblies and it is billed to be completed in December 2013.

Ghana’s Minister of Communications, Haruna Iddrisu who broke the ground for the commence of the project said the project, known as the Eastern Corridor Fibre Optic project would also branch off from Yendi into Tamale, both in the Northern Region of Ghana to complete the backbone loop of the country.

According to him, an independent engineer would be engaged to effectively manage the risks associated with the project delivery and mitigate them in the mutual interest of both parties in line with international best practice.

"The fibre infrastructure we are going to develop will be linked to the network already developed in other parts of the country to make it possible for the provision of network access to all districts to facilitate the delivery of government services efficiently to the citizens.

"It is expected that with high-speed connectivity available in all corners of the country, especially the rural areas, private businesses will take advantage to use the facility to operate their businesses and new avenues also opened to support entrepreneurial development to create jobs," Iddrisu said.

He gave the assurance that the technology to be applied in laying the cables would ensure that there would be no visible excavations and no destruction to streets or roads.

Officials of National Information and Technology Agency (NITA) and Alcatel-Lucent, added that the technology to be applied would carry out excavations deep down the surface of the ground there would be minimal and isolated surface excavations.

This would rule out any negative environmental effects from the project, they assured the beneficiary communities

18

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=251894

US$38M Broadband Project Begins Work on the $38 million Eastern Corridor fibre-optic broadband backbone infrastructure project has begun in Ho in the Volta Region. The 600-kilometre stretch project which is being undertaken by Alcatel-Lucent will last 12 months and will stretch to Bawku in the Upper East Region. It will also be linked to other parts of the country to make it possible for the provision of network access to all districts to facilitate the delivery of government service to the people. Unlike many of such projects in the country where deep trenches are dug, sometimes through major road networks, the route for this project will be dug using sophisticated equipment that will seldom show on the surface but will have the fibre optic laid. The project comes complete with the provision of data centres and data services and managed services component to ensure data security on the entire networks. The Minister of Communications, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, who broke the ground for the commencement of work on the project, said the project will make it possible for the people and businesses along that stretch to benefit from high speed broadband connectivity. “It will also afford telecommunications companies in the country which have poor services in that part of the country to tap into the project to be able for provide better services to their customers,” he added. The minister also noted that “the economic and social benefits that accrued from building the national fibre backbone network has been very tremendous. There is no argument that investing in broadband serves to improve economic growth and social development and the domino effect is an increase in opportunities and employment for Ghanaians.” Mr Iddrisu said the design of this particular project was such that it would provide high-speed data links between government agencies such as the district assemblies, hospitals, police, schools, police stations, national health insurance and immigration office, among others. Remote and rural locations will also have the fair share of the infrastructure. “The network which shall also introduce more resilience and redundancy to the already existing infrastructure will connect about 27 districts and municipal assemblies and surrounding communities from Ho to Bawku and it will branch off to Yendi and into Tamale,” he said. Mr Idrrisu said to minimise the risks associated with this project and mitigate them in the mutual interest of both parties and in line with international best practice, an independent engineer would be engaged to ensure that both parties to the project have value for money. He said the full collaboration of the National Information Technology Agency (NITA), which

19

would be acting on behalf of ministry and Alcatel-Lucent, was being “requested to enable the independent engineer to expertly advise and support both parties to deliver the project on time.” The Vice President of Alactel-Lucent, Mr Daniel Jaeger, said the project was one meant to bring broadband access directly to the people to enhance their lives and well-being in all facets. He said the project was also expected to attract more investments into the area as those who come in would have access to fast telecommunication services.

http://www.mobileworldmag.com/alcatel-lucent-extends-ghanas-e-government-services-to-rural-regions.html

Alcatel-Lucent extends Ghana’s e-government services to rural regions

Alcatel-Lucent and NITA – the information and communications technology (ICT) policy arm of Ghana’s Ministry of Communications – are to dramatically expand communication links between central and regional administration offices in support of external link e-Ghana, a national initiative to develop local IT services and improve the transparency and efficiency of government functions.

Alcatel-Lucent will design and implement a 600km fiber-optic ‘backbone’ network that will provide high-speed data links between central government functions and remote and rural locations. In addition, Alcatel-Lucent will provide a national data center facility to support the network, through close collaboration with HP, a global alliance partner for the delivery of converged ICT solutions.

Under the agreement with NITA (National Information Technology Agency), Alcatel-Lucent will also manage network operations of Ghana’s entire ‘e-government’ program for three years commencing November 2012. Financing for the program is being facilitated by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), an office of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs tasked with combating poverty through the promotion of human rights and economic growth.

The new network, which will link Ghana’s north and south as well as international submarine gateways via its eastern corridor, will use Alcatel-Lucent’s 100 gigabit per second (100G)-capable optical coherent technology. This advanced fiber-optic technology will enhance business efficiencies between central and regional government offices and maintain quality and reliability across a telephone service, email and other Internet-based e-services.

The network will easily be able to expand to support anticipated increases in future demand: the government intends to extend use of e-services to the health, education, justice, immigration, parliament and other sectors over the next few years.

William Tevie, Director General of NITA said: “By delivering a new network and data center, Alcatel-Lucent will enable us to streamline government processes between central and rural divisions and provide a consistent external view. This is an important step toward realizing the vision of giving our people access to a range of critical services how and when they need them.”

20

The Danish Minister for Development, Mr Christian Friis Bach said:“Information and communication technology (ICT) is an importantplatform for sustainable growth and development. It can provide access to information on basic health, education and relevant business data. ICT can also strengthen democracy and increase transparency, accountability and empowerment. I am very pleased that Denmark and Danish technical solutions in this way can contribute to Ghana’s further economic development”

Daniel Jaeger, Vice-President of Alcatel-Lucent in Africa said: “Alcatel-Lucent has a long history of providing communications solutions to meet customers’ e-business needs across the globe. Combined with our managed services expertise we are able to implement the best organization and processes to help continuously improve the services available to Ghana’s citizens.”

Hakan Yuce, Worldwide VP of Global Strategic Alliances at Alcatel-Lucent added: “The NITA project demonstrates the clear value to our customers of a seamless solution for converged IT and telecommunications networking needs. Through our global alliance, Alcatel-Lucent and HP are able to deliver to our customers the broadest ICT portfolio available.”

Alcatel-Lucent’s solution for NITA Ghana

The network being installed in Ghana will apply the 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS). The 1830 PSS offers exceptional capacity, performance, agility and intelligence for the transport of very large amounts of data over long distances and can support a mixture of 10G, 40G and 100G channels on the same fiber pair, helping ensure support for future needs as demand grows.

Alcatel-Lucent will work with local IT hardware and services provider, IPMC, to establish a large-scale data center using state-of-the-art data center, server and storage infrastructure from HP, which will host all of the e-Government project information. It will also host a Genesys helpdesk solution, a performance rating platform and e-learning systems from Saba.

Alcatel-Lucent will implement voice communication, email and other data services to enhance communication across all government bodies, while managing the complete operation of the e-Government network including the backbone, data center and services for three years. Alcatel-Lucent will also train NITA’s employees to ensure a seamless transfer of knowledge so that the NITA teams can take over the full network operation responsibility by

21

http://www.itwebafrica.com/business/351-ghana/230052-alcatel-lucent-plans-600km-fibre-network-in-ghana

Alcatel-Lucent plans 600km fibre network in Ghana

French telecoms equipment company, Alcatel-Lucent, plans to roll out a 600 kilometre fibre-optic network in Ghana to provide high-speed data links among central government functions, and remote and rural locations.

The network roll-out ,which is spearheaded by Ghana’s National Information Technology Agency (NITA), is planned to use Alcatel-Lucent’s 100 gigabit per second (100G)-capable optical coherent technology.

In addition, Alcatel-Lucent also plans to provide a national data centre facility to support the network, through a collaboration with HP. Alcatel-Lucent further plans to manage network operations of Ghana’s entire ‘e-government’ programme for three years starting in November 2012.

William Tevie, director general of NITA said, “By delivering a new network and data centre, Alcatel-Lucent will enable us to streamline government processes between central and rural divisions and provide a consistent external view.”

“This is an important step toward realising the vision of giving our people access to a range of critical services how and when they need them,” he added.

According to Alcatel-Lucent, the network being installed is planned to run on the 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS) to transport very large amounts of data over long distances and support a mixture of 10G, 40G and 100G channels on the same fibre pair.

Daniel Jaeger, vice-president of Alcatel-Lucent in Africa said, “Alcatel-Lucent has a long history of providing communications solutions to meet customers’ e-business needs across the globe. Combined with our managed services expertise we are able to implement the best organisation and processes to continuously improve the services available to Ghana’s citizens.

22

http://www.capacitymagazine.com/Article/3096035/Alcatel-Lucent-to-supply-Ghanas-government-with-fibre-network.html

Alcatel-Lucent to supply Ghana’s government with fibre network Alcatel-Lucent is to expand communications links between Ghana’s central and regional administration offices through the design and implementation of a 600km fibre-optic backbone network.

The plans are part of an initiative by NITA, the information and communications technology (ICT) policy arm of Ghana’s Ministry of Communications, to improve transparency and efficiency of government operations. The network will connect the north and south of Ghana and international submarine gateways on the country’s eastern corridor using 100Gbps capable coherent technology.

http://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2012/10/01/alcatel-lucent-supporting-e-government-project-in-ghana/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+telegeography%2Fcommsupdate+%28TeleGeography+CommsUpdate%29

Alcatel-Lucent supporting e-government project in Ghana Alcatel-Lucent has announced that it is working in partnership with Ghana’s National Information Technology Agency (NITA) to bring a range of online services to government offices in remote areas of the country. Under the so-called e-Ghana project, the vendor will design and implement a 600km fibre-optic backbone network which will provide high-speed data links between central government functions and remote and rural locations. In addition, Alcatel-Lucent will provide a national data centre facility to support the network and will also manage network operations of Ghana’s entire ‘e-government’ programme for three years, commencing November 2012. The new network will link Ghana’s north and south as well as international submarine gateways via its eastern corridor.

23

http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/83/16/82577.html

Alcatel-Lucent extends e-government services to rural regions Alcatel-Lucent and the National Information Technology Agency (NITA), the information and communications technology (ICT) policy arm of Ghana's Ministry of Communications, are expected to expand communication links between central and regional administration offices in support of 'e-Ghana', a national initiative to develop local IT services and improve the transparency and efficiency of government functions. Alcatel-Lucent will design and implement a 600km fiber-optic 'backbone' network that will provide high-speed data links between central government functions and remote and rural locations. In addition, Alcatel-Lucent will provide a national data center facility to support the network, through close collaboration with HP, a global alliance partner for the delivery of converged ICT solutions. Under the agreement with NITA, Alcatel-Lucent will also manage network operations of Ghana's entire 'e-government' program for three years commencing November 2012. Financing for the program is being facilitated by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), an office of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs tasked with combating poverty through the promotion of human rights and economic growth. Connecting Ghana The new network, which will link Ghana's north and south as well as international submarine gateways via its eastern corridor, will use Alcatel-Lucent's 100 gigabit per second (100G)-capable optical coherent technology. This advanced fiber-optic technology will enhance business efficiencies between central and regional government offices and maintain quality and reliability across a telephone service, email and other Internet-based e-services. The network will easily be able to expand to support anticipated increases in future demand: the government intends to extend use of e-services to the health, education, justice, immigration, parliament and other sectors over the next few years. William Tevie, director general of NITA said, "By delivering a new network and data center, Alcatel-Lucent will enable us to streamline government processes between central and rural divisions and provide a consistent external view. This is an important step toward realizing the vision of giving our people access to a range of critical services how and when they need them." The Danish Minister for Development, Christian Friis Bach said, "Information and communication technology (ICT) is an important platform for sustainable growth and development. It can provide access to information on basic health, education and relevant business data. ICT can also strengthen democracy and increase transparency, accountability and empowerment. I am very pleased that Denmark and Danish technical solutions in this way can contribute to Ghana's further economic development" Vice president of Alcatel-Lucent in Africa, Daniel Jaeger said "Alcatel-Lucent has a long history of providing communications solutions to meet customers' e-business needs across the globe. Combined with our managed services expertise we are able to implement the best organization and processes to help continuously improve the services available to Ghana's citizens."

24

Hakan Yuce, worldwide vice president of Global Strategic Alliances at Alcatel-Lucent added: "The NITA project demonstrates the clear value to our customers of a seamless solution for converged IT and telecommunications networking needs. Through our global alliance, Alcatel-Lucent and HP are able to deliver to our customers the broadest ICT portfolio available." Alcatel-Lucent's solution for NITA Ghana The network being installed in Ghana will apply the 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS). The 1830 PSS offers exceptional capacity, performance, agility and intelligence for the transport of very large amounts of data over long distances and can support a mixture of 10G, 40G and 100G channels on the same fiber pair, helping ensure support for future needs as demand grows. Alcatel-Lucent will work with local IT hardware and services provider, IPMC, to establish a large-scale data center using state-of-the-art data center, server and storage infrastructure from HP, which will host all of the e-Government project information. It will also host a Genesys helpdesk solution, a performance rating platform and e-learning systems from Saba. Alcatel-Lucent will implement voice communication, email and other data services to enhance communication across all government bodies, while managing the complete operation of the e-Government network including the backbone, data center and services for three years. Alcatel-Lucent will also train NITA's employees to ensure a seamless transfer of knowledge so that the NITA teams can take over the full network operation responsibility by the end of the three-year period.

http://www.itweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=58905:Alcatel-Lucent-extends-Ghana-s-e-government-services-to-rural-regions&catid=69

Alcatel-Lucent extends Ghana’s e-government services to rural regions

New fibre-optic network and project management service for Ghana's National Information Technology Agency to bring a range of online services to government offices in remote areas of the country.

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) and NITA - the information and communications technology (ICT) policy arm of Ghana's Ministry of Communications - are to dramatically expand communication links between central and regional administration offices in support of 'e-Ghana', a national initiative to develop local IT services and improve the transparency and efficiency of government functions.

Alcatel-Lucent will design and implement a 600km fibre-optic 'backbone' network that will provide high-speed data links between central government functions and remote and rural locations. In addition, Alcatel-Lucent will provide a national data centre facility to support the network, through close collaboration with HP, a global alliance partner for the delivery of converged ICT solutions.

Under the agreement with NITA (National Information Technology Agency), Alcatel-Lucent will also manage network operations of Ghana's entire 'e-government' programme for three years,

25

commencing November 2012. Financing for the programme is being facilitated by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), an office of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs tasked with combating poverty through the promotion of human rights and economic growth.

The new network, which will link Ghana's north and south as well as international submarine gateways via its eastern corridor, will use Alcatel-Lucent's 100 gigabit per second (100G)-capable optical coherent technology. This advanced fibre-optic technology will enhance business efficiencies between central and regional government offices and maintain quality and reliability across a telephone service, e-mail and other Internet-based e-services.

The network will easily be able to expand to support anticipated increases in future demand: the government intends to extend use of e-services to the health, education, justice, immigration, parliament and other sectors over the next few years.

William Tevie, Director-General of NITA, said: "By delivering a new network and data centre, Alcatel-Lucent will enable us to streamline government processes between central and rural divisions and provide a consistent external view. This is an important step towards realising the vision of giving our people access to a range of critical services how and when they need them."

The Danish Minister for Development, Christian Friis Bach, said: "Information and communication technology is an important platform for sustainable growth and development. It can provide access to information on basic health, education and relevant business data. ICT can also strengthen democracy and increase transparency, accountability and empowerment. I am very pleased that Denmark and Danish technical solutions in this way can contribute to Ghana's further economic development."

Daniel Jaeger, Vice-President of Alcatel-Lucent in Africa, said: "Alcatel-Lucent has a long history of providing communications solutions to meet customers' e-business needs across the globe. Combined with our managed services expertise, we are able to implement the best organisation and processes to help continuously improve the services available to Ghana's citizens."

Hakan Yuce, Worldwide VP of Global Strategic Alliances at Alcatel-Lucent, added: "The NITA project demonstrates the clear value to our customers of a seamless solution for converged IT and telecommunications networking needs. Through our global alliance, Alcatel-Lucent and HP are able to deliver to our customers the broadest ICT portfolio available."

Alcatel-Lucent's solution for NITA Ghana

The network being installed in Ghana will apply the 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS). The 1830 PSS offers exceptional capacity, performance, agility and intelligence for the transport of very large volumes of data over long distances and can support a mixture of 10G, 40G and 100G channels on the same fibre pair, helping ensure support for future needs as demand grows.

Alcatel-Lucent will work with local IT hardware and services provider, IPMC, to establish a large-scale data centre using state-of-the-art data centre, server and storage infrastructure from HP, which will host all of the e-government project information. It will also host a Genesys helpdesk solution, a performance rating platform and e-learning systems from Saba.

Alcatel-Lucent will implement voice communication, e-mail and other data services to enhance communication across all government bodies, while managing the complete operation of the e-government network, including the backbone, data centre and services, for three years. Alcatel-Lucent will also train NITA's employees to ensure a seamless transfer of knowledge so that the NITA teams can take over the full network operation responsibility by the end of the three-year period.

26

http://www.modernghana.com/news/421462/1/alcatel-lucent-extends-ghanas-e-government-service.html

Alcatel-Lucent extends Ghana’s e-government services to rural regions New fiber-optic network and project management service for Ghana's National Information Technology Agency to bring a range of online services to government offices in remote areas of the country

Paris and Accra, September 28, 2012 - Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) and NITA - the information and communications technology (ICT) policy arm of Ghana's Ministry of Communications - are to dramatically expand communication links between central and regional administration offices in support of 'e-Ghana, a national initiative to develop local IT services and improve the transparency and efficiency of government functions.

Alcatel-Lucent will design and implement a 600km fiber-optic 'backbone' network that will provide high-speed data links between central government functions and remote and rural locations. In addition, Alcatel-Lucent will provide a national data center facility to support the network, through close collaboration with HP, a global alliance partner for the delivery of converged ICT solutions.

Under the agreement with NITA (National Information Technology Agency), Alcatel-Lucent will also manage network operations of Ghana's entire 'e-government' program for three years commencing November 2012. Financing for the program is being facilitated by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), an office of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs tasked with combating poverty through the promotion of human rights and economic growth.

The new network, which will link Ghana's north and south as well as international submarine gateways via its eastern corridor, will use Alcatel-Lucent's 100 gigabit per second (100G)-capable

27

optical coherent technology. This advanced fiber-optic technology will enhance business efficiencies between central and regional government offices and maintain quality and reliability across a telephone service, email and other Internet-based e-services.

The network will easily be able to expand to support anticipated increases in future demand: the government intends to extend use of e-services to the health, education, justice, immigration, parliament and other sectors over the next few years.

William Tevie, Director General of NITA said: “By delivering a new network and data center, Alcatel-Lucent will enable us to streamline government processes between central and rural divisions and provide a consistent external view. This is an important step toward realizing the vision of giving our people access to a range of critical services how and when they need them.”

The Danish Minister for Development, Mr Christian Friis Bach said: “Information and communication technology (ICT) is an important platform for sustainable growth and development. It can provide access to information on basic health, education and relevant business data. ICT can also strengthen democracy and increase transparency, accountability and empowerment. I am very pleased that Denmark and Danish technical solutions in this way can contribute to Ghana's further economic development”

Daniel Jaeger, Vice-President of Alcatel-Lucent in Africa said: “Alcatel-Lucent has a long history of providing communications solutions to meet customers' e-business needs across the globe. Combined with our managed services expertise we are able to implement the best organization and processes to help continuously improve the services available to Ghana's citizens.”

Hakan Yuce, Worldwide VP of Global Strategic Alliances at Alcatel-Lucent added: “The NITA project demonstrates the clear value to our customers of a seamless solution for converged IT and telecommunications networking needs. Through our global alliance, Alcatel-Lucent and HP are able to deliver to our customers the broadest ICT portfolio available.”

Alcatel-Lucent's solution for NITA Ghana

The network being installed in Ghana will apply the 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS). The 1830 PSS offers exceptional capacity, performance, agility and intelligence for the transport of very large amounts of data over long distances and can support a mixture of 10G, 40G and 100G channels on the same fiber pair, helping ensure support for future needs as demand grows.

Alcatel-Lucent will work with local IT hardware and services provider, IPMC, to establish a large-scale data center using state-of-the-art data center, server and storage infrastructure from HP, which will host all of the e-Government project information. It will also host a Genesys helpdesk solution, a performance rating platform and e-learning systems from Saba.

Alcatel-Lucent will implement voice communication, email and other data services to enhance communication across all government bodies, while managing the complete operation of the e-Government network including the backbone, data center and services for three years. Alcatel-Lucent will also train NITA's employees to ensure a seamless transfer of knowledge so that the NITA teams can take over the full network operation responsibility by the end of the three-year period.