ALKHOBAR, 3 October 2006 — Alcatel is known for its leadership in the technology sector. Recently, industry analyst firm Ovum-RHK ranked Alcatel No. 1 in the optical networking market with a 13.4 percent market share in 2Q 2006 and with a 15 percent market share on a rolling four-quarter basis. According to Ovum-RHK, Alcatel has been leading the optical networking market for five consecutive years.
The main drivers for optical sales in 2Q 2006 were mobile back haul infrastructure projects, driven by network expansions across all regions; an increase in the roll-out of Ethernet as a key service for business customers; the increase in packet traffic driving carriers’ initiatives for network modernization and convergence; the start of ROADM ramp up and an increasing activity in non-carrier segments, especially transportation, education and research and energy.
Alcatel’s newly announced contracts in 2Q 2006 include Algerie Telecom, Guangzhou Television Station in China, Fastweb and INFN in Italy, HanseNet and T-Com in Germany, NEK in Bulgaria, PAETEC in the US, Sparq in Taiwan, TATA Group in India, Telefonica de Espana in Spain and Triple T Broadband in Thailand.
Alcatel has also been awarded the 2006 Frost & Sullivan Market Leadership of the Year Award in the European fixed telecoms market category. The award recognizes the company’s achievement in defining the network architecture for triple play deployments. Alcatel’s successful triple play service delivery architecture has been widely adopted in Europe and the company’s activities across the globe have substantially helped to put triple play at the forefront of the telecommunications market today. Frost & Sullivan’s award will be given to Alcatel at the “Excellence in Information and Communications Technologies” event to be held in London on Oct. 24.
“Alcatel has developed an end-to-end, reference triple play architecture and we are very pleased that Frost & Sullivan has recognized our efforts in this high-growth market,” said Michel Rahier, president of Alcatel’s fixed communications activities. “We see triple play as a driving force in the IP transformation of our customers’ networks. In such strategic network transformation process, they can leverage Alcatel’s leadership positions in products, solutions and integration capabilities.”
And now, Alcatel’s corporate leadership has been recognized to extend to areas beyond technology alone. For the second year running, Alcatel has been listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI). Alcatel has also been included, for the first year, in the Dow Jones Sustainability STOXX Index which gathers the best performing companies with respect to corporate social responsibility in Europe and the Eurozone. Alcatel is the only company of the “Communication Technology” sector present in the latter index.
Inclusion in these indexes is a realization of Alcatel’s significant progress regarding sustainable development. The company has reached the position of “industry leader” with respect to corporate social responsibility among the world’s biggest telecommunication equipment manufacturers. To be included in the indexes Alcatel was assessed in terms of labor practices, supply chain standards, corporate governance, environmental management, digital inclusion, dialogue with stakeholders, and corporate citizenship. Alcatel is rated best performing company in the “Communication Technology” sector for environmental management and implementation of ethical and social standards for suppliers. Alcatel’s management attributes these positive results to the reinforcement of the company’s policies in all these fields over the last four years.
