Alcatel-Lucent joins with Caf
Announcement posted by Alcatel-Lucent 30 May 2007
Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today announces that it has signed a two-year cooperation agreement with Cafés Malongo, the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis and Haiti's mobile telephone operator ComCEL to offer broadband Internet access to the isolated rural areas of Cap Rouge in Haiti.
This pilot project called "Traçabilité du Café" (Coffee Traceability) will give 's coffee cooperatives Internet access from their plantations by applying WiMAX and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technologies. By having such access to the latest information technologies, they will be able to monitor the traceability of their fair trade labeled production and sell their coffee on optimum terms by reducing the number of intermediaries. Training in information technology for the staff and members of ’s cooperatives is also being planned. This project again demonstrates Alcatel-Lucent's commitment to narrowing the digital divide and combining economic development with social responsibility.
The project's main goals are to:
- help 's farming communities so that they can manage coffee production to meet demand and improve production techniques through appropriate remote learning in order to ensure that the cooperatives are more profitable,
- help to develop expertise in two advanced technologies (universal WiMAX for broadband Internet and RFID labels for traceability) to support the development of agricultural telecenters in ,
- pioneer a range of innovative services in agricultural telecenters to serve education, health, e-government and ecotourism.
The four partners have mutually supportive roles to ensure that this unprecedented cooperative venture in succeeds:
- Alcatel-Lucent has undertaken to supply the telecommunication equipment free of charge (a WiMAX station and the associated terminals), and will help to set up and run the project,
- Cafés Malongo, operating in , is providing the financing and designing the software for the coffee traceability system, while maintaining its medium-term presence in the country in order to help finalize the Project's applications,
- the University of Nice, which has had a presence in Haiti since 1998 when it created the MBDS (Interactive Multimedia, Database and Systems Integration) masters qualification and has initiated the project, is committed to providing project management, developing the necessary software applications and finding local partners to ensure that Haiti's agricultural cooperatives and an NGO get involved in the project,
- ComCEL has undertaken to bear all the connection costs for two years for the three planned sites, from the time when the connection is first set up, and to operate the WiMAX station supplied by Alcatel-Lucent.
Thierry Albrand, director of Alcatel-Lucent's "
About the partners:
Cafés Malongo, which has been operating in for more than six years, is working closely with 40 cooperatives accounting for more than 10,000 farmers. Its aim is to set up training in the cooperatives and in schools, via WiMAX, so that small producers can gain access to training, information and communication.
The University of Nice Sofia Antipolis and the University of the State of Port au Prince have created a Masters qualification in new technologies, "Multimedia, Database and Systems". As a result, two Haitian students and a French student have produced the traceability software that forms the basis of the project. For more information, visit www.mbds-fr.org
About Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) provides solutions that enable service providers, enterprises and governments worldwide, to deliver voice, data and video communication services to end-users. As a leader in fixed, mobile and converged broadband networking, IP technologies, applications, and services, Alcatel-Lucent offers the end-to-end solutions that enable compelling communications services for people at home, at work and on the move. With operations in more than 130 countries, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with global reach. The company has the most experienced global services team in the industry, and one of the largest research, technology and innovation organizations in the telecommunications industry. Alcatel-Lucent achieved adjusted proforma revenues of Euro 18.3 billion in 2006 and is incorporated in , with executive offices located in
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