Alcatel won a key rural telephony contract in Africa that will bring telecommunication services to remote parts of the continent, the company said.

Under the deal with RascomStar-QAF, the pan-African satellite service operator, Alcatel will develop and produce the ground segment for the optimized rural telephony network.

The network will allow telecom operators representing African countries to propose services needed by isolated populations. The system will eventually provide an expanded range of value-added services to all African countries using the system, including broadband services, Alcatel said.

Pascale Sourisse, CEO of Alcatel Space said, “This ambitious project is a natural fit with our businesses, since we believe that everybody should enjoy access to the resources needed to communicate.”