Alcatel secures CamGSM contract

CamGSM, jointly owned by Cambodian consortium the Royal Group and Millicom International [NasdaqNM: MICC], has awarded a contract to expand its GSM-900 network to Alcatel [NYSE: ALA]. The contract, which is the 15th extension of an initial 1996 agreement between the two companies, is for the supply of GSM network infrastructure that will include base stations, base station controllers and an additional mobile switching centre which will allow for 100,000 subscribers. CamGSM will also be provided with the equipment needed to offer SMS, prepaid, roaming and call forwarding services. It hopes that upgrading the network will result in growth in pre-paid users from 300,000 to one million. Launched in 1996, CamGSM operates under brand name MobiTel and has around 250,000 subscribers.