Alcatel Increases Multiservice WAN Market Share; The Yankee Group says company ideally positioned to make further gains on competition.

Business Editors

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 5, 2001

Alcatel (NYSE: ALA) was the only vendor that strengthened its hold in the multiservice wide area network (WAN) market, according to The Yankee Group, a leading technology research and strategic consulting firm.

The Yankee Group's October 2001 Multiservice WAN Switch Market Analysis indicates Alcatel increased its global market share from 20 to 24 percent in this critical market, which includes both network edge and core. The Yankee Group forecasts a 10 percent year-over-year growth in the WAN switching market in 2001, and predicts that Alcatel will continue to see greater growth for its multiservice product portfolio than its competitors.

"The WAN multiservice market is being driven by a 30 percent increase in demand for data services, increasing Asynchronous Transfer Mode deployments in wireless core networks, and growth in next-generation voice networks," said Christin Flynn, director, Carrier Convergence Infrastructure at The Yankee Group. "Carriers have been waiting for either multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) or a higher-capacity switch fabric and density. New product developments such as Release 2.0 of the Alcatel 7670 Routing Switch Platform (RSP) offer carriers the right mix of scalability, density and MPLS functionality. Alcatel's commitment to continued investment combined with its strong European presence, give the company a distinct opportunity to gain further market share at the expense of equipment vendors more heavily dependent on revenues from North America."

Alcatel's portfolio of multiservice wide area network products includes the Alcatel 7670 RSP and the Alcatel 7470 Multiservice Platform (MSP). The multiprotocol Alcatel 7670 RSP is MPLS-enabled and designed for the core and edge of next generation multiservice networks. With in-service scalability from 2.4 Gb/s in the edge to 450 Gb/s in the core, the Alcatel 7670 RSP offers carriers the ability to scale existing multiservice networks to meet the demands placed on the core by the explosion of Internet protocol traffic. With more than 30,000 systems shipped to some of the world's largest service providers, the Alcatel 7470 MSP is a highly flexible platform ideal for multiprotocol networks that support a variety of revenue-ready services for delivery across a broadband infrastructure.

"Alcatel is committed to developing best-in-class multiservice products that offer the scalability and flexibility essential to meet the business and network needs of our customers," said Barry Denroche, vice president, Switched Data Networks, Alcatel. "The latest Yankee Group report confirms the value of this strategy. We remain confident about Alcatel's continued strength in the WAN multiservice market based on the enthusiastic support for our recently launched next generation Alcatel 7670 RSP."

About The Yankee Group

As a global leader in technology research and strategic consulting, The Yankee Group provides accurate, reliable, and trusted research; custom consulting; and personalized one-to-one client interaction encompassing all areas essential to business success: Internet, electronic commerce, communications, wireless, computing, and enterprise applications. Now in its fourth decade, the company is headquartered in Boston and maintains offices throughout North America, Europe, Latin America, and the Pacific Rim. For more information visit: http:// www.yankeegroup.com

About Alcatel

Alcatel builds next generation networks, delivering integrated end-to-end voice and data networking solutions to established and new carriers, as well as enterprises and consumers worldwide. With sales of Euro 31 billion in 2000 and 110,000 employees, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries. For more information, www.alcatel.com