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Strategies & Market Trends : Telebras (TBH) & Brazil -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: wl9839 who wrote (15254)	5/12/1999 8:33:00 PM
From: wl9839	Respond to of 22640

Alcatel Brazil Unit Signs New Contract With Tele Centro Sul Dow Jones Newswires SAO PAULO -- Alcatel Telecomunicacoes SA, the Brazilian unit of French telecommunications technology giant Alcatel SA (ALA), on Wednesday announced it signed a new 15 million real ($1=BRR1.6550) contract with Brazil's Tele Centro Sul Participacoes SA (TCS). The contract is for the substitution of more than 55,000 analog lines for digital ones in more than 222 cities in Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Parana and Rondonia states by June 30. Tele Centro Sul is one of the three wire-line companies created from the privatization of former federal holding Telecomunicacoes Brasileiras SA (TBR), or Telebras, in July last year. It serves Brazil's central and southern states. Italy's Telecom Italia SpA (TI) acquired a controlling stake in the company at the July 1998 auction. As reported, Alcatel also announced Wednesday that it inked a BRR31.5 million contract to supply the backbone system for Tele Norte Leste Participacoes SA (TNE) by the middle of August. Last month Alcatel concluded a deal with Tele Centro Sul, worth BRR16 million, to add an extra 60,000 telephone lines to its network. The new contract for digital lines will allow Tele Centro Sul to satisfy specifications established by the sector watchdog agency, Anatel, and modernize its operation. Alcatel said it will be using locally produced Tropico technology to implement the new lines for Tele Centro Sul, rather than the international S12 system. "The new contract reaffirms the prestige given by Tele Centro Sul to the locally produced Tropico technology. We continue to bet on the success of the Tropico network in Brazil, and expect most of the planned 700,000 new lines installed by Tele Centro Sul this year to use the local technology," said Alcatel's president for Brazil, Jean Francoise Fille, in a written statement. According to Fille, Brazil is Alcatel's 8th largest telecommunications market in terms of sales. He added that sales in 1999 will likely be in line with, or slightly higher than, last year's BRR575 million. Alcatel's Brazilian unit registered a profit of BRR1 million in 1998, down from BRR2 million in 1997, while revenues rose to BRR667 million from BRR604 million over the same period. "Our performance suffered slightly last year as it was a very transitional year with the privatization sale of Telebras paralyzing the sector for about four months," said Alcatel Vice-President for Brazil, Luis Antonio de Oliveira. -By Kieran Gartlan; (5511) 813-1988; kgartlan@ap.org