Alcatel Introduces Two New High-capacity Optical Fibers for Metropolitan and Ultra Long-haul Applications.

Business and Hi-Tech Editors

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 22, 2001

TeraLight, An Unequalled Mix of Highest Capacity, Best Performance

and Lowest Cost Per Bit

Alcatel (NYSE: ALA and Paris: CGEP.PA), a world leader in intelligent optical networking, today introduced two new advanced optical fibers, TeraLight Metro, designed for metropolitan networks, and TeraLight Ultra, designed for terrestrial long-haul and ultra long-haul applications.

As communication network operators continue to expand the reach and capacity of their optical infrastructures, they are challenged with ensuring best-in-class performance consistently throughout their networks at the lowest cost. TeraLight Metro and TeraLight Ultra are the only Non Zero-Dispersion Shifted Fibers (NZ-DSF) to offer a cost-effective solution to operators who upgrade from today's systems to higher bit-rates (10 and 40 Gbit/s and beyond), to use more transmission bands and to increase the number of channels per band. Alcatel is rapidly developing its portfolio of advanced fibers, which will become an intrinsic part of the network as data rates continue to increase.

Metropolitan environments are rapidly becoming major bandwidth bottlenecks, due to the increase in long-haul capacity and the wider deployment of broadband access technologies. Alcatel's TeraLight Metro fiber, available immediately, fully supports high-capacity, high-speed (10 Gbit/s) backbone rings of 80 to 200 km without the need for any dispersion compensating devices, which would be required with standard single-mode fibers. As a result, it reduces overall construction and operating costs and minimizes the complexity of managing additional equipment in the network.

TeraLight Metro can be easily upgraded for 40 Gbit/s systems. TeraLight Metro is also ideally suited for shorter length (10-30 km) metro systems, in the 1310 nm wavelength transmission window. Many of today's metro systems are deployed in this window, as transmitter costs are generally less expensive.

Long-haul networks continue to evolve to higher bit rates and longer distances. TeraLight Ultra, available fourth quarter 2001, supports the newest technological advances such as distributed Raman amplification, which significantly extends the reach of optical transmission and reduces the costs associated with regeneration of the optical signal. Usage of Raman amplification today in long-haul networks is in its infancy but is forecasted to grow aggressively over the next few years. Providing low attenuation (low signal loss) in all transmission bands, TeraLight Ultra is the only fiber to guarantee low attenuation in the 1450 nm wavelength transmission window, where Raman amplification is used.

Additionally, longer distances, and higher bit-rates require fibers with very low Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD) to reduce transmission distortions. TeraLight Ultra's lower PMD enables operators to bridge longer distances at 40 Gbit/s, or higher, data-rates.

"Advanced fibers like TeraLight are becoming an increasingly more critical part of optical fiber networks," said Jacques Blanc, president of Alcatel's optical fiber business. "Advanced fibers have been aggressively deployed globally over the last few years. Alcatel, a leading global supplier of optical fiber solutions, is at the forefront of this development and today's announcement reinforces our strength in providing leading-edge optical fiber solutions to meet the challenges of higher bit-rates, lower costs and network optimization."

TeraLight Metro and TeraLight Ultra are based on Alcatel's proven TeraLight technology, which has set many transmission capacity records, including the latest for 10.2 Tbit/s transmission at 40 Gbit/s. Alcatel introduced TeraLight, its leading-edge NZ-DSF more than two years ago, and it has been successfully deployed by a number of major operators globally. TeraLight is fully compliant with the ITU's G.655 standard.

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 130,000 employees and sales of EURO 31 billion in 2000, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries. For more information, visit Alcatel on the Internet: http://www.alcatel.com