Al Madina A'Zarqa signs agreement with AT&T to deliver advanced communications expertise for the new city development

Al Madina A'Zarqa is a major infrastructure project in Oman, a development of a new city of 200,000 people. BCC1 has been created to deliver Phase 1 of the project.

Under this agreement, Blue City Company 1 will work with AT&T to develop telecommunications services that will be rolled out to residential customers and businesses in the development, a 32 square kilometer city being constructed in Al Sawadi, a 60-minute drive from Oman's capital Muscat.

Consisting of 20 5-star hotels and housing 200,000 residents, the development is expected to radically expand the tourism facilities in the Sultanate of Oman.

By centering its economic development on tourism, trade, sports and wellness, medicine and healthcare, education and entertainment, the development is expected to generate large scale employment opportunities for Omani nationals, promote freehold property ownership for both nationals and expatriates, and serve as a leading hub for business and leisure activities in the Sultanate.

AT&T will provide expertise in areas such as product development, business modeling and technical support for advanced technologies as IPTV, Video on Demand, and other Internet Protocol based services, as well as communications infrastructure design and network management.

"We are very proud to announce our relationship with AT&T. At Al Madina A'Zarqa, it is our goal to provide state-of-the-art facilities to our residents and visitors. AT&T shares our vision and working with them will help us provide the highest quality and service standards. Al Madina A'Zarqa will be at par with the world's leading cities,"

said Richard Russell, PE, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of Blue City Company 1.

Al Madina A'Zarqa will give visitors the connection to the most advanced and powerful global backbone networks.

"The development is very important to the country; it will be an integral part of the transformation that is going to take place in Oman, in line with His Majesty's Vision 2020," said Mark Fuller, Chief Technology Officer of Blue City Company 1.

"Our technology strategy will have an impact at national levels in terms of an economic and social development perspective providing a unique experience as a connected community," Fuller added.

"We are pleased to take part in the creation of a new city in Oman. This is a very opportune time to be part of the vision of Al Madina A'Zarqa to make this a world class city development. We are confident that this agreement with Al Madina A'Zarqa will provide a solid foundation to support their vision to provide advanced technologies to the new city."

said John B. Gibson, President, AT&T Middle East and Africa.

AT&T is a premier global communications company, providing services around the world. Earlier this year AT&T announced plans to invest approximately $1bn in 2009 to continue building out its global network, while driving new services and network-based applications to businesses. Spurred by continued demand for business applications made possible by the proliferation of high speed communication networks and mobile devices worldwide, the investment will focus on network infrastructure, services and support.

Over the past three years, AT&T has made significant investments in the Middle East. AT&T's global network provides services for multinational companies throughout the MEA region and offers customers access to its advanced portfolio of IP based managed communications services including hosting, security and worldwide connectivity.