French telecom equipment maker Alcatel said on Tuesday that it had signed a preliminary agreement with Australian telecoms giant Telstra for a maintenance and supply contract worth €2,18-billion ($2,55-billion).
Telstra, the biggest telecoms group in Australia, is planning an extensive overhaul of its communications network to enable it to transmit all of its voice and broadband internet data via a single web-based system.
In mid-morning trading, the price of shares in Alcatel was showing a gain of 4,48% to €10,50 on the Paris stock exchange. The CAC 40 index of leading shares fell 0,08%.
Alcatel said that the five-year contract would be to design and integrate an internet protocol (IP) system for Telstra which the Australian group hoped would reduce costs for consumers.
Alcatel said that the two groups had signed a “memorandum of understanding” before negotiating “formal agreements to reflect their strategic partnership”.
Swedish telecoms group Ericsson and US-based Cisco Systems were also expected to be involved in the project, Alcatel said. – AFP