Alcatel-Lucent wins appeal to transfer bribery case to Costa Rica
Alcatel-Lucent had requested the US court to move its bribery court case from the USA to Costa Rica. Its request has been upheld by the Circuit Court in Miami, against the wishes of Costa Rica’s Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE).
Alcatel-Lucent has confessed in US courts that some of its staff and subsidiaries bribed officials at ICE when awarding network contracts. ICE is now seeking compensation from the company.
As the potential financial penalties in the USA are far higher than possible in Costa Rica, ICE stated that it was naturally disappointed with this ruling, and believes that Judge Echarte’s order is inconsistent with factual and legal principles that should apply to the matter. The company is planning an appeal.
Judge Echarte’s order did not rule on the validity of any of the claims asserted by ICE, but merely indicated that the courts of Costa Rica might be a more convenient forum for adjudication of the case.
While ICE is disappointed with Judge Echarte’s order, the order does provide certain benefits to ICE in the form of stipulations. These include stipulations that Alcatel-Lucent and its defendant subsidiaries consent to jurisdiction in Costa Rica and waive all statutes of limitations that might apply to the case. These stipulations would be a benefit if the case eventually would have to be tried in Costa Rica.
SSP selects Alcatel-Lucent for GPON-based IP access platform (Finland)
SSP Yhtiot Oy, part of the Finnet Group, has reportedly selected French-US vendor Alcatel-Lucent to provide it with GPON technology as the company looks to fulfill the Finnish government’s goal of providing 100Mbps services to 98% of the country’s households by the end of 2015.
According to reports, the three-year frame agreement between the two companies will see Alca-Lu provide its GPON-based IP access platform as well as its portfolio of customer premises equipment, with the vendor claiming that SSP’s decision to utilize GPON technology was because of the potential operational cost savings resulting from factors such as shorter repair times should cables be damaged.
According to Pekka Granlund, planning manager at SSP, following a thorough study of the technologies and solutions that are available on the market today, they selected Alcatel-Lucent as it clearly has the most future-safe GPON platform.
Four groups join 3G network contract auction – TOT (Thailand)
Thailand’s state-owned telecommunications company TOT PCL has stated that four groups have submitted applications to participate in an electronic auction for the supply of US$568 million worth of equipment and an installation contract for its 3G mobile phone network.
According to TOT Senior Executive Vice-President Arnon Tubtiang, the first consortium comprises United Communication Industry PCL, Advanced Information Technology PCL, and Alcatel-Lucent (Thailand); the second includes Samart Corp PCL, Loxley PCL, Huawei Technology (Thailand), and Nokia Siemens Networks; the third comprises Forth Corp PCL and ZTE; and the fourth consortium includes Ericsson (Thailand) and AS Associate.
TOT will take around one week to look into the qualifications of the bidders before conducting an e-auction scheduled on Jan. 28 and it planning to sign the contract with the winner around Feb. 15-18.
Huawei wins Copaco 3G network deployment (Paraguay)
Paraguayan state-owned operator Copaco has selected Huawei for the deployment of a 3G network. The amount offered was $ 12 million, the lowest cost submitted at the auction.
The deal is valued at USD12 million, lower than the competing offers made by ZTE (USD13 million) and Ericsson (USD47 million), but this did not pass the first stage of pre-qualification.
Huawei will begin launching the network in January with a view to a commercial launch by June or July.
SEC charges Alcatel-Lucent with FCPA violations
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Paris-based telecommunications company Alcatel-Lucent, S.A. with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by paying bribes to foreign government officials to illicitly win business in Latin America and Asia.
The SEC alleges that Alcatel’s subsidiaries used consultants who performed little or no legitimate work to funnel more than $8 million in bribes to government officials in order to obtain or retain lucrative telecommunications contracts and other contracts. Alcatel agreed to pay more than $45 million to settle the SEC’s charges, and pay an additional $92 million to settle criminal charges announced today by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Alcatel and its subsidiaries failed to detect or investigate numerous red flags suggesting their employees were directing sham consultants to provide gifts and payments to foreign government officials to illegally win business,†said Robert Khuzami, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. Alcatel’s bribery scheme was the product of a lax corporate control environment at the company.â€
Glenn S. Gordon, Associate Director for Enforcement in the SEC’s Miami Regional Office, added, The serious sanctions Alcatel has agreed to, including paying back all net profits made on the contracts Alcatel illegally obtained, should serve as a reminder that we are committed to enforcing the FCPA and a level playing field for companies seeking to obtain or retain business in other countries.â€
According to the SEC’s complaint filed in the Southern District of Florida, Alcatel’s bribes went to government officials in Costa Rica, Honduras, Malaysia, and Taiwan between December 2001 and June 2006. An Alcatel subsidiary provided at least $14.5 million to consulting firms through sham consulting agreements for use in the bribery scheme in Costa Rica. Various high-level government officials in Costa Rica received at least $7 million of the $14.5 million to ensure Alcatel obtained or retained three contracts to provide telephone services in Costa Rica.
The SEC alleges that the same Alcatel subsidiary bribed officials in the government of Honduras to obtain or retain five telecommunications contracts. Another Alcatel subsidiary made bribery payments to Malaysian government officials in order to procure a telecommunications contract. An Alcatel subsidiary also made illegal payments to various officials in the government of Taiwan to win a contract to supply railway axle counters to the Taiwan Railway Administration.
According to the SEC’s complaint, all of the bribery payments were undocumented or improperly recorded as consulting fees in the books of Alcatel’s subsidiaries and then consolidated into Alcatel’s financial statements. The leaders of several Alcatel subsidiaries and geographical regions, including some who reported directly to Alcatel’s executive committee, either knew or were severely reckless in not knowing about the misconduct.
The SEC’s complaint charges that Alcatel violated Section 30A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by making illicit payments to foreign government officials, through its subsidiaries and agents, in order to obtain or retain business. Alcatel violated Section 13(b)(2)(B) of the Exchange Act by failing to have adequate internal controls to detect and prevent the payments. Alcatel violated Section 13(b)(2)(A) of the Exchange Act by improperly recording the payments in its books and records. Alcatel violated Section 13(b)(5) of the Exchange Act when its subsidiaries knowingly failed to implement a system of internal controls and knowingly falsified their books and records to camouflage bribes as consulting payments. Without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations, Alcatel has consented to a court order permanently enjoining it from future violations of these statutory provisions; ordering the company to pay $45.372 million in disgorgement of wrongfully obtained profits, and ordering it to comply with certain undertakings including an independent monitor for a three-year term. The settlement is subject to court approval.
The SEC’s case was investigated by Ernesto Palacios and Thierry Olivier Desmet of the Division of Enforcement’s FCPA Unit and by Teresa J. Verges and Fernando Torres all of the Miami Regional Office.
The SEC acknowledges and appreciates assistance from the U.S. Department of Justice, Fraud Section; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Office of the Attorney General in Costa Rica, the Fiscala de Delitos Econ³micos, Corrupci³n y Tributarios in Costa Rica; and the Service Central de Pr©vention de la Corruption in France.
Airtel launches second EU subsea cable
Bharti Airtel has launched its second high-speed subsea cable link between India and Europe.
The 12,091 km India Middle-East-Western Europe (IMEWE) cable opened for commercial services on Friday, connecting Mumbai in India with Marseille in France, via Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon and Italy.
According to Ajay Chitkara, head of the carrier’s global data business, the link will boost connectivity between Asia and Western Europe, by providing an alternative route to cope with growing demand for bandwidth. The cable has a design capacity of 3.84 terabits per second.
Nine carrier partners teamed to deploy and operate the cable, including Tata Communications, Orange and Etisalat.
The three fiber pair cable was constructed by Alcatel-Lucent under a contract awarded early 2008.
Vodafone Qatar collaborates with Alcatel-Lucent for radio base station deployment
Vodafone Qatar has teamed up with Alcatel-Lucent to set up 17 radio base stations designed to blend into the urban environment aligned with its ‘green technology‘ program.
According to the company, this initiative is in line with the urban planning and development of the country and is fully supported by the telecom regulator and the government of Qatar.
Alcatel-Lucent is providing Vodafone Qatar with a full end-to-end turnkey solution including monopole tower, camouflage solution, 2G and 3G equipment, microwave equipment, civil works and set of comprehensive services, including design, site engineering, integration, installation and commissioning, and network operation.
As part of Vodafone Qatar’s green technology program in 2011, they also target the deployment of additional hybrid powered base stations in rural areas to harness solar and wind energy.
ZTE and Alcatel-Lucent selected for Indian Network Contract
BSNL’s Chairman Gopal Das has revealed that the company has selected ZTE and Alcatel-Lucent to supply network infrastructure for 5.5 million GSM lines to the company.
According to Gopal Das, BSNL will definitely take a decision on the winning bid by March, although that has to be set alongside the company’s many attempts to award network infrastructure contracts that then got cancelled. The current contract follows the dropping of the controversial and oft-delayed 93 million line tender earlier this year.
The terms of the tender require 3.37 million GSM lines in North India and 2.13 million lines in the Eastern Region. It has been previously suggested that Alcatel-Lucent quoted $53 a line for supplying the access radio equipment, while ZTE has quoted $8 a line for core network gear.
Vodafone Qatar selects Alcatel-Lucent for landline contract
Vodafone Qatar has awarded an agreement to Alcatel-Lucent to be the sole supplier for an expansion into the fixed broadband market. Following the award of a landline license last year, Vodafone Qatar is planning to offer customers an integrated service, encompassing fixed and mobile.
To achieve this ambitious project, Vodafone Qatar selected Alcatel-Lucent, together with partner companies, to deploy an entirely new fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network, based on gigabit passive optical network (GPON) and point-to-point Gigabit Ethernet technology. Alcatel-Lucent’s IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) solution will then be used to link the new infrastructure with Vodafone Qatar’s existing mobile network. This will allow services to be offered seamlessly through fixed and mobile connections without excessive cost or complexity.
According to Jenny Howe, CTO, Vodafone Qatar, the company continues to be committed to bring innovations to their customers and to become the most admired brand in the country. Partnering with Alcatel-Lucent, they will now look forward to extend their service offerings across Qatar to fixed broadband – a major area of growth for our company. Together with Alcatel-Lucent they will make a world of difference for all people in Qatar.
