Alcatel-Lucent and INEO, GDF SUEZ group, announced the
signing of a Euro 350 million contract agreement with the Direction Generale de
l’Armement (DGA), the French defense agency.
Alcatel-Lucent and INEO Defense have the support of
financial partners including Caisse des Depots and the South Europe
Infrastructure Equity Finance. This Public-Private Partnership (PPP) is backed
by a 16-year contract valued at Eur 350 million.
We are pleased to support, on a long-term basis, the
Ministry of Defense in its modernization effort, thanks to this innovative
public-private partnership,” said Pascal Homsy, CEO Alcatel-Lucent France.
As the consortium lead, Alcatel-Lucent will coordinate
design, deployment, financing, management and maintenance of IP-based telecom
networks at French metropolitan air force bases. These networks will carry
general air force base data as well as information pertaining to military air
control and airspace protection over metropolitan France.
INEO, through its subsidiary INEO Defense, will manage
the design of service and security architectures, the equipment integration in
this infrastructure, the deployment, the maintenance as well as the
co-management of this project with Alcatel-Lucent.
The installation will affect approximately 106
metropolitan sites, i.e. more than 36,000 access points and around 1,500 to
2,000 buildings.
The solution uses standard high-tech civilian equipment
that meets military security requirements. Moving to all-IP technology
will provide compartmentalization and security for different network components
as well as more flexibility to handle changes in speed and topology.
In addition, an operations, maintenance and security
supervision body has been established to meet the higher availability and
continuity of service requirements of a military environment, while providing
the ability to adapt to future changes required by the French government.
On a voluntary basis, technical staff from the Ministry
will be offered new career opportunities by the industrial partners.
The partnership contract includes a construction phase
(three years) from 2011 to 2014 and a network operation phase, which will last
until 2027. In addition, existing equipment will be replaced over the course of
the project to ensure optimal operational conditions.
At the heart of our expertise, this partnership is the
fruit of a deep collaboration of experienced professionals knowing very well
the challenges of defense, and who took particular care to propose very
innovative and reliable solutions to meet the need of air force operational
teams,” add Guy Lacroix INEO CEO.
By Telecomlead.com Team
editor@telecomlead.com
