Alca-Lu seizes Aus resource sector

After conquering Australia’s biggest telecommunications project de jour, the NBN, Alcatel-Lucent has taken on the lucrative resource sector with gusto securing a construction contract with partner Bechtel for the $AU29 billion Wheatstone Project in remote Western Australia.

Alcatel Lucent has been eyeing the resources area for over two years with prior wins with the ConocoPhillips LNG project in Darwin, building a major comms network and holding a long standing alliance with Bechtel for around five years.

The Wheatstone projects represents Alcatel Lucent’s biggest win with Bechtel to date and the largest of its type undertaken by Alcatel-Lucent globally. The Wheatstone Project is expected to create about 6,500 direct and indirect jobs during peak construction.

Alcatel-Lucent and Bechtel will provide local design, project management, engineering and integration services for the Wheatstone network, with additional opportunities available for Australian construction, installation and testing suppliers.

The contract is estimated to create about 50 new jobs in Australia, with work taking place in both Perth and Onslow.

Alcatel Lucent will supply integrated communications and security systems for the remote project including enhancing operations and support the safety and security of the workforce during the construction and operation of the plant, and provide leisure facilities for employees living on the site.

This will include design, integrate and deliver a complete communications, security and entertainment system, including broadband Internet and TV for the living areas, underpinned by multiple technologies and multiple vendors.

The bespoke platform will include an IP based phone system for businesses, a broadcast system for fast emergency notification to the workforce and people in the surrounding area, satellite communications, structured cabling, video conferencing, radio systems and communications tower and an uninterruptible power backup system (UPS). ®