Alcatel wins RP's phone contract

Alcatel wins RP's phone contract

MANILA (AFP): Germany's Alcatel AG, a unit of Alcatel-Alsthom
of France, won a 500,000-dollar telecoms contract in the
Philippines, German Post and Telecommunications Minister Wolfgang
Boetsch said yesterday.

The contract involved the installation of 500 telephone lines
the southern Philippine island of Camiguin, said the minister,
who is visiting Manila.

The Philippine government project, set to be implemented not
later than next month, is partly funded by German loans and
grants, Boetsch told reporters after a meeting with his
Philippine counterpart Amado Lagdameo.

Lagdameo said Manila was seeking additional funding from
Germany for similar facilities in underserved areas of the
archipelago.

Boetsch called on President Fidel Ramos and delivered a speech
before members of the European Chamber of Commerce here Tuesday.

In his speech, Boetsch called for global deregulation of
telecommunications services.

"By liberal I mean here that foreign companies likewise have
access to the relevant domestic market and are treated in exactly
the same way as the domestic companies," he said.

"Liberalization that allows competition solely among national
companies is liberalization that has lost its way."