Lucent Wins $1 Bln Contract From CTR Group for Fiber Network
Murray Hill, New Jersey, May 20 (Bloomberg) -- Lucent
Technologies Inc., a top phone-equipment maker, won a $1 billion
contract from CTR Group Ltd. to provide networking products and
expertise for a new $8 billion global fiber-optic network.
During the four-year agreement, Lucent will help engineer,
install and maintain the network, called Project Oxygen. CTR
Group, a closely held company in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, said
Project Oxygen will be the super-Internet of the future.
CTR Group plans to build the undersea and land-based
communications system to connect every continent except
Antarctica, Lucent said. Global demand for new Internet services
will exceed $1 trillion a year in 18 months, Murray Hill, New
Jersey-based Lucent estimated.
''Lucent will make it possible for CTR Group to deliver band-
width (telecommunications) capacity that's up to 100 times
cheaper than other solutions and we'll help manage the traffic,''
said Paula Horii, a Lucent spokeswoman. She said that Lucent will
begin delivering equipment early next year.
CTR Group couldn't be reached to comment.
In its first phase, Project Oxygen's 98,750 miles (158,000
kilometers) of fiber-optic cable is projected to connect 74
countries. On its land and short undersea segments, the network
is expected to transport the equivalent of almost 25 million
simultaneous phone calls, Lucent said.
On Monday, Lucent won a contract valued at $700 million to
build a wireless telephone system in Mexico for Sistemas
Profesionales de Comunicacion SA. SPC chose Lucent over Canada's
Northern Telecom Ltd, Ericsson AB and Nokia AB.
Lucent rose 11/16 to 72 13/16 in midafternoon trading.
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