To: elmatador who wrote (3854 ) 5/30/2002 11:07:10 AM From: Ian@SI Read Replies (1) | Respond to Alcatel Maintains Top Position in Intelligent Optical Hardware; 20 Percent Market Share in First Quarter 2002 According to Infonetics Research Alcatel led the $1.86 billion worldwide market for terrestrial intelligent optical hardware with a 20 percent share in the first quarter of 2002. This achievement confirms Alcatel's strategy to focus on providing its customers with a smooth migration from existing to future services and revenues. Key to this smooth migration is the ability of Alcatel's data aware products to support today's dominant SONET/SDH-based services while facilitating the incremental deployment of enhanced data services. Infonetics Research defines Intelligent optical hardware as data aware equipment with remote configuration and remote service provisioning that can be deployed in mesh, star, and ring, allowing carriers to build out and revamp optical networks quickly. From an early stage, Alcatel understood that network intelligence would play a key role for service providers. Network intelligence helps operators to enhance the flexibility of their networks, to reduce their operating expenditures and to differentiate their services from those of competitors. One class of Alcatel products in particular, the optical cross-connect, plays an instrumental role in bringing network intelligence into today's optical networks. The optical cross-connect manages the interconnection of multiple transmission links in a large central office, ensuring that each link is used to its maximum potential. This improves network efficiency, increases overall reliability and lowers infrastructure costs. "Alcatel gained significant market share each quarter of 2001, reaching number one in the fourth quarter in the overall category of terrestrial intelligent optical hardware, doubling their market share during the year. Alcatel maintained number-one ranking in first quarter 2002 with 20 percent share as measured in terms of revenue for products shipped in the quarter. This means that Alcatel is well positioned to take advantage of the build-out of optical networks in the future," said Michael Howard, Infonetics Research's principal analyst and co-founder. "The Infonetics Research report shows that Alcatel leads the market for optical products supporting the transition to next-generation networks, those systems which are at the heart of operators' strategies in this difficult environment," said Christian Reinaudo, president of Alcatel's optics activities. "Our focus on network cost optimization, our leadership in cross-connects and network intelligence, and our leading offering in metro systems are the foundations for this achievement." alcatel.com .
