Artesia, N.M. and Paris, France March 29, 2012 – Many people living in the southwestern U.S. states of New Mexico and Texas are for the first time to be offered high-speed Internet access, thanks to the launch of a new 4G LTE service by Peñasco Valley Telecommunications (PVT) and supported by Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU). Operating under the Fuego Wireless brand, PVT will bring blazingly fast 4G LTE Internet to the areas it serves; including expansive diverse terrain, rural agricultural communities, and metropolitan areas such as Santa Fe and Las Cruces.

With the increasing number of streaming online services such as sports coverage, movie rentals and Internet gaming requiring the higher bandwidth and higher speeds that 4G LTE delivers, Fuego Wireless will provide access to its customers in areas across New Mexico and parts of Texas.   With a history of providing customers with the latest innovations to help them in the home and business, PVT will provide 4G fixed wireless access via LTE.

The LTE network provides new business opportunities such as the possibility to offer business customers innovative services that help to improve the efficiency of their operations.  For instance, 4G LTE is able to provide real-time video monitoring of remote locations which can be of great benefit to many industries operating in remote locations, such as the many oil and gas and agriculture companies across New Mexico.

Glenn Lovelace, Chief Executive Officer of PVT said: “PVT is excited to bring the best technology available to New Mexico. Our residents often wait years for the best technology to finally arrive.  Now we are on the leading edge, enabling the most advanced and fastest communications technology available anywhere. Working hand-in-hand with Alcatel-Lucent, PVT will deliver 4G LTE under our new brand Fuego Wireless, so that our customers in New Mexico and Texas can benefit from the same high speeds and quality services that customers enjoy in the largest cities in the world.”

Robert Vrij, President of the Americas Region for Alcatel-Lucent said: “Alcatel-Lucent’s strong expertise in the global delivery of LTE technology, as well as a real understanding of the specific needs of service providers operating in every kind of terrain and population distribution helps us to provide a solution that meets PVT’s unique needs and the needs of their customers. LTE technology and our innovative lightRadio™ product portfolio provide customers across the globe with a clear evolution path toward faster speeds and lower power consumption and operating costs.”

Under this agreement Alcatel-Lucent will provide a complete end-to-end 4G LTE solution including LTE base stations (eNodeBs), the Internet Protocol (IP)-based Evolved Packet Core (EPC) as well as our market leading services capabilities including project management, installation, integration and operations and maintenance services.

Alcatel-Lucent has established a strong global leadership position in 4G LTE, having been selected by more than 20 customers, including two of the world’s largest service providers for commercial deployments, and being involved in over 65+ trials worldwide.