Alcatel Leads the World in Optical Transmission Solutions
PR Newswire, Saturday, October 09, 1999 at 14:17
Alcatel Investing US$ 180 Million in its Optical Business
to Meet Growing Customer Demand
Alcatel at Telecom Geneva - Hall 4, Stand no. 210
GENEVA, Oct. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Alcatel success in optical
transmission -- its integrated portfolio of terrestrial and undersea
networking solutions, plus advanced optical components -- continues to set the
pace in the global marketplace.
In September, Alcatel Chairman and CEO, Serge Tchuruk announced annual
sales of DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) equipment -- the most
advanced technology now being implemented in many of the world's operators'
backbone and metropolitan network infrastructures -- amounted to a
world-leading US$1.3 billion. Today, Alcatel announces that booming customer
demand globally is leading the company to invest US$ 180 million in its
optical businesses. The investments include:
-- Over US$80 million in two new cable ships for installing and burying
long-haul underwater telecommunications cables. The purchase is a
direct result of the rising demand for bandwidth created by the
Internet, new multimedia applications and high-bandwidth access
technologies such as ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line).
-- Further expansion of its optical component manufacturing capacity to
comply with the millennium explosive growth in demand for opto,
electronic components. Alcatel is doubling the Alcatel optronics
facility in Nozay (Paris area, France) through its ambitious program
called "Optronics 2000" at a cost of US$ 100 million.
Alcatel targets the world's operators demanding optical terabit core
network solutions. In today's highly volatile and competitive carrier
environment, operators no longer differentiate between terrestrial and
undersea parts of a network -- they simply want a fully resilient,
leading-edge, end-to-end communications network.
The only company in the world with both a terrestrial and undersea
capability in optical transport is Alcatel. Unlike competitors, it does not
have to partner with others to deliver an end-to-end, ocean-to-city network
solution. Therefore, Alcatel is alone in being able to deliver true
end-to-end global transmission networks, including any undersea link. In each
of these sectors, Alcatel has a global market lead, including 45% of the total
annual undersea transmission market by value.
Moreover, the systems are integrated by a single, common Network
Management System enabling, among other functions, efficient traffic control
and routing throughout all network levels.
Alcatel offers a uniform optical solution for each customer: a uniform
optical transmission network, uniform network management and common,
integrated technologies, whether terrestrial or undersea. It can pass on the
benefits of standard transmission components and software development, for
example, and ensure the highest standards of reliability -- even a common look
"n" feel among the network elements.
Christian Reinaudo, President of Alcatel Optics, explains: "Carrier
networks are evolving to address the dramatic growth in IP-based services and
Internet traffic, in line with the evolution of the Internet itself as a
strategic business tool. Alcatel's 'Instant Internet' solutions enable
carriers, enterprises and end-users alike to exploit the opportunities
emerging from the revolution in the way we live and work that the public
global Internet and its private counterparts, corporate intranets and to-end
optical channel, available from Alcatel's coherent, single-sourced,
own-developed optical solutions portfolio."
Within the ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) remit of
Europe alone, Alcatel has delivered 70,000 add/drop multiplexers, 850 digital
cross-connects, 500 optical network systems and 6,500 microwave SDH
(Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) transceivers; for the ANSI market, figures
include 17,500 SONET ADMs, 4,100 digital cross-connects and 1,200 optical
network systems.
At Telecom 99, Alcatel is also announcing:
-- A US$84 million initial contract from Pangea Ltd to deliver two
undersea cables across the North Sea, each with a capacity of
3.6 Tbit/s. The cables will form part of a self-healing ring linking
five European capital cities.
-- A Multi-million rand contract to supply DWDM and SDH equipment to
South Africa Telekom, enhancing Telekom's existing infrastructure as
part of a fully-managed solution.
-- Alcatel has recently been awarded a contract by Shandong PTA to build
up a DWDM link from Jinan to Qingdao, providing a transmission
capacity of 16 channels at 2.5 Gbps on each fibre pair. This has been
confirmed as the first 16-channel DWDM link contract ever signed in
China.
Notes:
Alcatel builds next generation networks, delivering integrated end-to-end
voice and data communications solutions to established and new carriers, as
well as enterprises and consumers worldwide. With 120,000 employees and sales
of EURO 21.3 billion ($25 billion), Alcatel operates in more than
130 countries. For more information, visit Alcatel on Internet:
alcatel.com .
For full Alcatel Geneva Telecom press list, consult:
alcatel.com .
Alcatel Telecom Geneva :
Press Office: Tel: +41-22-746-5507/08
Olivier Le Friec Tel : +33-6-08-40-94-43
Willem Zevenbergen Tel : +33-6-07-86-76-04
Alcatel Press Office (Paris)
Tel : +33-1-40-76-12-98
Investor Relations
Claire Pedini Tel: +33-1-40-76-13 93
Claire.pedini@alcatel.fr
Charlotte Laurent-Ottomane Tel: +33-1-40-76-13-30
Charlotte.laurent-ottomane@alcatel.fr
Emmanuel Spite Tel: +33-1-40-76-16-04
Emmanuel-spite@alcatel.fr
SOURCE Alcatel
-0- 10/09/1999
/PRNewswire -- Oct. 9/
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