Alcatel passes 100 million DSL lines milestone and sets the pace for the industry

Paris, October 9, 2006 — Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA and NYSE: ALA) today announced another major milestone as it has now surpassed 100 million DSL lines shipped. Alcatel, which continues to have more than one third of the DSL market, has doubled its total shipments since October 2004.

Ten years after pioneering the broadband access market, Alcatel continues to set the pace for the industry with its ISAM product family, a purpose-built 100% triple play IP access solution, which 100 new customers have selected in the past two years. The ISAM family offers the optimal mix of future proof technologies (ADSL2plus, VDSL2, PON) and network topologies (central offices as well as remote or rural areas) that meet each operator’s network requirement. Alcatel has also been spearheading innovation with developments on GPON*, VDSL2** and voice capabilities, which further help operators evolve towards future-proof broadband access networks.

This expertise and innovation is reflected in the large number of customers that are partnering with Alcatel to transform their broadband access network. Not only have more than 100 customers selected Alcatel’s ISAM platform in less than two years, but 16 of the top 20 top DSL operators in the world are utilizing Alcatel’s broadband access solutions. Moreover, 17 operators are also engaged with Alcatel in GPON projects in all regions.

Erik M. Keith, Senior Analyst for Broadband Infrastructure at Current Analysis, commented: “Alcatel, In surpassing the 100 million DSL line shipment milestone, Alcatel has set a new benchmark for DSL access vendors, a feat which is especially impressive given the increasing competitive pressures in this market. Moreover, Alcatel’s continuing ability to retain its global DSL market leadership, and set new quarterly and annual DSL port shipment records in the process, is a testament to Alcatel’s corporate fortitude as well as its long-term commitment to the global broadband access market. This achievement also highlights Alcatel’s success in the IP DSLAM sector, where the Company has garnered more than 100 ISAM customers to date.”

Dirk Van den Berghen, President of Alcatel’s access network activities, said: “Customers worldwide recognize the advantage of a vendor who can integrate multiple access components into a finished solution, and offer guaranteed end-to-end service quality, especially as networks continuously increase in complexity. Alcatel is considered the world’s leading access supplier because it can partner with telecom operators worldwide, and combines the widest range of broadband access solutions, fast and high quality delivery with competitive prices.”

Recently, the following new customers have selected Alcatel’s ISAM platform:

Europe: Telefonica Spain, Datastream in Malta, Eircom in Ireland, BH Telecom in Bosnia Herzegovina, and Telecom Serbia.

Middle East: Etisalat, Jordan Telecom and the Qatar Public Telecommunications Corporation.

Africa: Moroc Telecom, Algeria Telecom, Telecom Malagasy (Madagascar), and Telma (Madagascar)

Asia-Pacific: Hanaro in Korea, MAXIS in Malaysia, and TOT and TT&T in Thailand.

North and South America: Cincinnati Bell (US), Antel in Uruguay, Telsur in Chile and CANTV in Venezuela.

Since 1996, when it installed the first ADSL solution, Alcatel has been leading the broadband access equipment market. Over the decade, Alcatel has actively continued to pioneer this field, constantly innovating, expanding its worldwide customer base, and offering its customers the best technical and most comprehensive end-to-end integrated solutions.

*GPON: Gigabit Passive Optical Network
** VDSL2: Very High Density Subscriber Line

About Alcatel
Alcatel provides communications solutions to telecommunication carriers, Internet service providers and enterprises for delivery of voice, data and video applications to their customers or employees. Alcatel brings its leading position in fixed and mobile broadband networks, applications and services, to help its partners and customers build a user-centric broadband world. With sales of EURO 13.1 billion and 58,000 employees in 2005, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries. For more information, visit Alcatel on the Internet: http://www.alcatel.com

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Régine Coqueran

Corporate Media Relations

Alcatel

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