Alcatel-Lucent Pioneers Live 10G GPON-based LTE Backhaul

PARIS, BROADBAND WORLD FORUM EUROPE, September 7/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- During this year's Broadband World Forum Europe, Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) not only shows that it masters next-generation wireline and wireless access. The company also highlights that Long Term Evolution (LTE) and next-generation passive optical networking (PON) technologies converge seamlessly for a smooth delivery of the most demanding, high-speed broadband services.

The live demonstration in Alcatel-Lucent's Paris demo center shows LTE's capability to deal with multiple concurrent video streams and fast channel change - and is complemented by a high-capacity 10G GPON backhaul solution for future-safe backhaul via fiber.

"Introducing our 10G GPON technology, we want to show that Alcatel-Lucent continues to be a pioneer in broadband, uniquely positioned to be the partner of choice along our customers' transformation process," says Philippe Keryer, President of Alcatel-Lucent's carrier activities. "At the same time, we want to put a particular focus on 10G GPON's co-existence with its 2.5G predecessor. After all, approximately 60%-70% of a PON investment relates to the service provider's outside plant - so it is extremely important that the evolution to 10G GPON does not jeopardize today's investments. Deploying GPON today clearly continues to be a safe bet, a smooth migration path having been secured."

"Proving that 10G GPON is a viable upgrade path from today's 2.5G deployments - and demonstrating its ability to function in mixed GPON environments - eliminates two key long-term concerns for operators," confirms Jeff Heynen, Directing Analyst Broadband and Video at Infonetics Research. "They don't want to strand their initial GPON investment nor do they want to cut over existing subscribers when they don't have to."

Alcatel-Lucent is at the forefront of developing cutting-edge technologies long before they are standardized. Even though the 10G GPON standards are still being ratified, Alcatel-Lucent shows it is ready - when needed - to meet the request for higher capacities in its customers' access networks.

Alcatel-Lucent is engaged in over 95 FTTH projects around the world, over 80 of which are with GPON (as-of Q2, 2009). In Gartner's latest FTTH Magic Quadrant assessment[1], Alcatel-Lucent was positioned in the leaders quadrant for the fiber-to-the-home space.

[1] Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Fiber-to-the-Home Equipment (December 12th, 2008)

About Alcatel-Lucent

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) is the trusted partner of service providers, enterprises and governments worldwide, providing solutions that deliver voice, data and video communication services to end-users. A leader in fixed, mobile and converged broadband networking, IP technologies, applications and services, Alcatel-Lucent leverages the unrivalled technical and scientific expertise of Bell Labs, one of the largest innovation powerhouses in the communications industry. With operations in more than 130 countries and the most experienced global services organization in the industry, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with a global reach. Alcatel-Lucent achieved revenues of Euro 16.98 billion in 2008 and is incorporated in France, with executive offices located in Paris. For more information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on the Internet: www.alcatel-lucent.com.