Alcatel Lucent: Alcatel-Lucent, Reliance Communications managed network services joint venture completes one year

Jul 01, 2009 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) -- Mumbai and Paris, -- Alcatel-Lucent Managed Services, the first of its kind managed network services joint venture company of Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) and Reliance Communications (BSE : RCOM), one of India's largest integrated telecommunications service provider, today completes one year. This legal entity was launched in July 2008, as an innovative business model between one of the world's largest telecom equipment manufacturer and telecom service provider to establish a cost-effective delivery hub for global services business.

'The unique combination of strengths of Alcatel Lucent and Reliance Communications has been among the key drivers for unprecedented growth and quick subscriber ramp up on the Reliance mobile network,' said Mr. Sandip Biswas, head of Managed services, Reliance Communications. 'With Reliance Communications holding a 33% equity stake in the Joint Venture, it also offers us significant opportunities to further create value for our many million stakeholders,' he added. Within the first year of operations the joint venture has demonstrated its capability to achieve operational cost savings of 20-25%.

To ramp up the operations and lead the new entity, Alcatel-Lucent Managed Services appointed John Crossley as CEO. In his role, John is focusing on process improvements and business development opportunities, in India and globally. Prior to taking up this assignment John was leading Alcatel-Lucent's Middle East network operations activities. John has been in the telecom industry for over 30 years.

'We are extremely proud to have this unparalleled partnership with Reliance Communications. Alcatel-Lucent's recognized expertise in delivering best-in-class services is helping them through the business transformation process while accelerating their operational excellence and increasing customer satisfaction,' said Andy Williams, president of Alcatel-Lucent's Services activities.

The initial phase of the JV spanned through July to September 2008 wherein CDMA and GSM operations and maintenance of 5 circles (Maharashtra and Goa, Mumbai, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh) were successfully transitioned. In the second phase, on October 2008, Reliance Communications handed over the rest of India's operations. Alcatel-Lucent Managed Services now manages Reliance's pan India CDMA & GSM network covering approx 80 million subscribers and providing coverage to more than 2 million km2 of area. This makes Alcatel-Lucent the only vendor entrusted with the complete pan India, multi-vendor, multi-technology mobility network operations for a telecom service provider.

The 5-year agreement signed last year by Alcatel-Lucent and Reliance Communications is valued about USD 750 million. It is one of the largest multi-vendor managed services deal in the world and the first for multi-technology managed services in India (both CDMA and GSM).

About Reliance Communications Reliance Communications Limited founded by the late Shri Dhirubhai H Ambani (1932-2002) is the flagship company of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. The Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group currently has a net worth in excess of Rs. 63,000 crore (USD 14 billion), cash flows of Rs. 12,000 crore (USD 3 billion), net profit of Rs. 8,000 crore (USD 2 billion) and zero net debt.

Reliance Communications is India's foremost and truly integrated telecommunications service provider. The Company, with a customer base of over 80 million including over 2 million individual overseas retail customers, ranks among the Top 10 Telecom companies in the world by number of customers in a single country. Reliance Communications corporate clientele includes 2,100 Indian and multinational corporations, and over 800 global, regional and domestic carriers.

Reliance Communications has established a pan-India, next generation, integrated (wireless and wireline), convergent (voice, data and video) digital network that is capable of supporting best-of-class services spanning the entire communications value chain, covering over 20,000 towns and 500,000 villages. Reliance Communications owns and operates the world's largest next generation IP enabled connectivity infrastructure, comprising over 175,000 kilometers of fibre optic cable systems in India, USA, Europe, Middle East and the Asia Pacific region.

About Alcatel-Lucent Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) is the trusted partner of service providers, enterprises and governments worldwide, providing solutions to deliver voice, data and video communication services to end-users. A leader in fixed, mobile and converged broadband networking, IP technologies, applications and services, Alcatel-Lucent leverages the unrivalled technical and scientific expertise of Bell Labs, one of the largest innovation powerhouses in the communications industry. With operations in more than 130 countries and the most experienced global services organization in the industry, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with a global reach. Alcatel-Lucent achieved revenues of Euro 16.98 billion in 2008 and is incorporated in France, with executive offices located in Paris.

CONTACT: Press Office, Alcatel-Lucent e-mail: press@alcatel-lucent.com WWW: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com ((M2 Communications disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to info@m2.com.

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