Alcatel-Lucent and YooMee Africa join forces to build ultra-broadband wireless internet access based on TDD LTE in West and Central Africa

Paris and Cape Town, November 13, 2013 – Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) will enable YooMee Africa, the leading high-speed Internet service provider in Cameroon, to expand into new African market by offering TDD LTE ultra-broadband wireless access.

YooMee – previously known as 4G Africa – provides high-speed reliable Internet access and value added services to residences and businesses customers throughout sub-Saharan Africa. LTE is the best choice for YooMee to build wireless broadband networks as it is the latest worldwide standard to offer mobile internet services replacing technologies like WiMAX.

Key facts:

• YooMee has targeted deploying TDD LTE in its new markets within the next 6 months.
• The operator expects to build out in average 35 to 50 sites per capital city before deploying in remaining cities of the countries it operates in.
• Alcatel-Lucent will deploy a complete end-to-end TDD LTE solution consisting of eNBs, Wireless Backhaul and the Evolved Packet Core (EPC).
• Alcatel-Lucent will also provide professional services such as network planning, pre-launch optimization, network integration, and start-up assistance services to accompany YooMee with its commercial rollout
• This agreement with YooMee is another example of the growing momentum of TDD LTE technology and further underlines Alcatel-Lucent’s commitment and success to the technology
• Alcatel-Lucent currently has more than 40 LTE and 55 small cells networks globally.
• TDD LTE is a key element of The Shift Plan, Alcatel-Lucent’s industrial strategy to become a specialist vendor of IP Networking and Ultra-Broadband Access.

Quotes:

Dov Bar-Gera, CEO of YooMee Africa, said : “YooMee is committed to helping eliminate the digital divide in Africa and providing ultra-broadband accessibility as the means to accomplishing that goal. In addition to our efforts in Cameroon,we plan to deploy TDD LTE in other countries in which YooMee is holding the relevant licenses in the coming years. Our work at the University of Douala giving 70,000 students and faculty access to broadband internet at very affordable rates is another indicator of our commitment to improving the quality of life in Africa by overcoming the digital divide.”

Peter Ziegelwanger, CTO of YooMee Africa, said: “YooMee Africa made the choice of Alcatel-Lucent because it brings a strong momentum in LTE as well as a competitive solution with a powerful IP-Centric ePC based on its 7750 Mobile Gateway. Alcatel-Lucent strong and historical presence in Africa was also very important to us as we need competent and responding support in all countries we operate.”

Daniel Jaeger, Vice-President of Alcatel-Lucent in Africa said: “The choice of Alcatel-Lucent by YooMee confirms our leadership in LTE and specifically our market leadership in Africa. We have shown that we can adapt to the different requirements of service providers in Africa by offering the products, services and expertise to meet their need. This solution leverages both our Wireless and our IP leadership capabilities to provide exactly what YooMee needed for their plans. We look forward to working alongside YooMee as they expand ultra-broadband service in Sub-Saharan Africa.”

About YooMee Africa:

YooMee Africa (www.yoomee-africa.com), a privately held Swiss company, is committed to closing the digital divide. The mission is to provide high speed internet access to the people and businesses of sub-Saharan Africa, as well as value-added and multi-media services. It offers affordable, reliable, mobile wireless broadband internet connectivity with exceptional quality. The company is a mobile broadband internet operator – it gains the required licenses and frequency spectrum, deploys latest generation mobile broadband networks and provides its customers with broadband wireless internet service.

YooMee Africa (previously named 4G Africa) was founded in 2009 by a team of telecom entrepreneurs who throughout their careers have successfully built four telecommunications companies in developed and emerging markets. The management team has worked together for over 15 years and has experience in empowering local managers.

The company employs around 100 professionals in Africa. The management is recruited locally in the countries of operation.

YooMee media contacts

Pauline Dubois

Communication and Administration

Office:  +41 44 553 22 31

Mobile: +41 76 348 19 90

Email:pauline.dubois@yoomee-africa.com