Alcatel Announces First Complete SONET Transport Product Family for Diverse Access Network Applications.

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 9, 1998--

Carriers Now Have a Range of Options and Clear Bandwidth Migration Path, Ranging From Sub-SONET to OC-48 (2.4 Gbit/s) Rates, With Introduction of Alcatel 1603 SMX Product

Alcatel becomes the first SONET (synchronous optical network) vendor to market a full line of transport solutions specifically designed for access networks, offering OC-3, OC-12 and OC-48 line rates, with the introduction of the Alcatel 1603 SMX SONET Multiplexer eXtra at SUPERCOMM in Atlanta.

Alcatel (booth 4213) has designed the 1603 SMX, described in detail below, to meet the diverse and revolutionary requirements of new access networks constructed by Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs) and other high-growth, leading-edge operators. In addition, many advanced features, common across Alcatel's acclaimed family of SONET multiplexers, provide an ideal fit for the demanding requirements of these operators.

Alcatel centers this enhanced product family around the highly-successful 1603 SM SONET Multiplexer (formerly known as the 1603/12 SM). The product line also includes the 1603 SE SONET Extender and the new 1603 IAD Integrated Access Device, which is a combination of any of the 1603 products with Alcatel's 1518 IAD, managed under a single network management system, either Alcatel's 1301 NM PC-based graphical user interface or 1320 NM Unix-based network manager.

This highly versatile product family offers tremendous savings for network operators through its unprecedented sharing of plug-in units among all three SONET Multiplexer products.

"The Alcatel design team has done a remarkable job in extending the original 1603 SM's platform for reuse in other new products. With the addition of only five new plug-in units, two new products have emerged," said Jay Fausch, Senior Director, Local Networks Marketing and Business Development at Alcatel. "This high degree of reuse provides maximum flexibility and investment protection and enables carriers to use Alcatel's entire 1603 product family for construction of their advanced access networkive service access and transport for lightly-loo a customer premise or small office park settif, as a wall-mounted unit or in a minimal amount of space in an outdoor cabinet.

The original member ods of different customer networks. Furthermore, mily and supports up to the equivalent of 12 STS-1s of drop capacity from a single shelf.

For the most demanding and highest capacity requirements, the 1603 SMX will operate as an OC-3, OC-12, or OC-48 SONET Multiplexer with in-service upgrades between line rates. However, severf 28 DS1s, 4 DS3s, 1 OC-3 and 1 OC-12 equipped ss unmatched floor space economy: up to four OC-er of traffic processing at the ATM level, while preserving the existing STM layer of processing at the VT1.5 and STS-1 levels. This unique feature allows network operators to partition their SONET payload, reserving some of the bandwidth for ATM cell traffic and the rest for STM traffic.

"This is very appealing for carriers because it lets them manage their traditional STM traffic in the conventional manner with which they are familiar, and at the same time accommodate less predictable ATM cell-traffic in a very efficient and scalable way as end-user needs evolve," said Mr. Fausch.

ATM service transport can now be enhanced using all of the SONET-based benefits of the 1603 SM, such as ring survivability, fast-switch times, and low latency. Further more, ring bandwidth is maximized because cell traffic accessed at each ring node can be combined and concentrated into a single shared STS-1 or STS-3c connection around the ring. Gone are the requirements to nail up a full DS3/STS-1 around the ring for only 10 Mb/s of data traffic or a full DS1 for only 384 kb/s of throughput. Alcatel has the ATM cell-router feature available now and is demonstrating it at Supercomm to transport ATM traffic between Alcatel's 1000 ADSL (asymmetrical digital subscriber line) system and Alcatel's 1100 HSS ATM switching system.

The 1603 IAD brings to narrowband services the same highly survivable SONET-based delivery provided in the 1603 SM for DS1, DS3 and ATM traffic. In addition to these payloads, the 1603 IAD accommodates a broad mix of private line and switched voice and data services including POTS, ISDN, Frame Relay, ATM, and Ethernet LAN transport. An integrated 1/0 cross-connect fabric provides maximum facility usage for DS0 channelized services, while a frame relay component provides access, concentration, and switching of frame relay traffic. The 1603 IAD narrowband component offers a variety of configurations and packaging to accommodate a wide range of capacity requirements from a single T1 to up to eight T1 WAN connections.

Alcatel designs, manufactures, and markets complete telecommunications systems. Activities include fixed switching networks, transmission systems, access systems, mobile communications infrastructure, business networking, submarine cable networks, as well as radio communications, space, and defense systems. With operations in over 130 countries, Alcatel is a leading-edge supplier in the majority of its business. In 1997, the Telecom segment of Alcatel Alsthom registered total sales of $14.2 billion (FF 82.9 billion). For more information, visit Alcatel via the web at: www.alcatel.com or www.ans.alcatel.com (U.S. site).

Contact for Alcatel Alsthom Investor Relations (Paris): Charlotte LAURENT-OTTOMANE, (33.1) 40 76 13 30 or [e-mail] (Fax): (33.1) 40 76 14 05 -- UK media contact: Barrington Lloyd International, tel. [phone] or [e-mail]

    CONTACT:  Alcatel, Dallas
               Mark Burnworth, 972/996-5986
               Internet: [e-mail]