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Technology Stocks : Alcatel (ALA) and France -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Steve Fancy who wrote (500)	3/4/1999 12:19:00 PM
From: lebo	Respond to of 3891

Are there any similarities between Callware Technologies and Aspect (ASPT). Because ASPT is a good bargain right now.

To: Steve Fancy who wrote (500)	3/4/1999 2:51:00 PM
From: Steve Fancy	Respond to of 3891

(UPDATE) Alcatel To Buy Remote Internet Access Firm For $350 Million Dow Jones Online News, Thursday, March 04, 1999 at 12:17 NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- French telecommunications-equipment company Alcatel S.A. Thursday said it signed an agreement to buy closely held Assured Access Technology Inc., a remote access Internet products company, in a deal the companies valued at $350 million, and set plans to increase its share of the Internet access market. Assured Access is a little-known company that specializes in linking mobile computers and other portable devices to the Internet. It will retain its name and continue to be headquartered in Milpitas, Calif. Paris-based Alcatel (ALA) said that along with the planned $2 billion purchase of Xylan Corp. announced earlier this week, the proposed Assured Access deal continues Alcatel's expansion strategy into the U.S. technology market. Xylan makes the increasingly important switches and other routing gear that companies use to build high-speed data networks. In a related move, Alcatel said Thursday it is creating a new Internet division, which will include Assured Access, Xylan and other recently acquired firms. Martin de Prycker, an Alcatel executive, was named president of the Internet division and he will also serve as chairman of Assured Access. Arthur Klein will continue as Assured Access chief executive. De Prycker said Alcatel is aiming to have a 10% share of the $12 billion Internet access market by 2000, up from 5% now. De Prycker said the division, which will also include the company's high-speed ADSL Internet access technology, should report annual revenues of around $1 billion by 2001. Alcatel said the indicated value of $350 million deal with Assured Access includes the equity purchase price as well as a technology development incentive plan. The incentive plan will utilize Assured Access' Internet remote access technology to develop new products for Alcatel. "Financially, these acquisitions aren't huge but they show (Alcatel Chief Executive) Serge Tchuruk is determined to invest in Internet technology," said Pascal Mathieu, sector analyst at Paris brokerage CCF Elysee Bourse. The growth of Internet networks has been the driving force behind the telecommunications market, with North America's Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) and Nortel Networks (NT) leading the way. "Until now Alcatel has had a very limited presence in data networks," said Nicolas Voyer, sector analyst at Natexis Capital in Paris. "These acquisitions mean that it now has practically all the technology in place to propose Internet services...even if it is still very much at the beginning." Older, established companies such as Alcatel are being driven to buy Internet-related firms because the volume of data traffic zipping around the world is far outstripping old-fashioned voice telephone calls. Analysts believe voice calls will account for less than 1% of all telecom traffic within a few years, making it crucial for companies such as Alcatel to get a solid foothold in the new market. Alcatel's continuing foray into the U.S. market, which is its biggest, contributing about 20% of sales, marks a big change from a few years ago, when it sold most of its products in France. Last summer, Alcatel surprised investors by acquiring DSC, one of the biggest providers of phone equipment to the Baby Bells, for about $4 billion. Alcatel traditionally had been strong in supplying transmission equipment to long-distance operators, so the DSC acquisition helped it significantly broaden its footprint in the market. More recently, Alcatel acquired a small Spokane, Wash., Internet equipment maker called Packet Engines. Completion of the Assured Access transaction, which Alcatel expects to close in about two weeks, is subject to approval by Assured Access' shareholders and other customary closing conditions. Copyright (c) 1999 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.