State of Kansas selects Alcatel Wireless LAN solution for use throughout government and educational sites

Paris, November 8, 2005 - Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA AND NYSE: ALA) today announced that the State of Kansas has selected Alcatel for its wireless LAN switches and access points for use throughout the state’s facilities. The contract includes products from Alcatel’s OmniAccess wireless LAN (WLAN) switch family, a next-generation enterprise Wi-Fi solution designed for voice and data user mobility that offers strong security, management and signal integrity.

The State of Kansas recognized the need and the benefits that a wireless LAN could provide their employees. With a WLAN, employees improve productivity due to the communications flexibility that wireless connectivity provides, enabling them to meet in various locations with colleagues or access temporary workstations with full voice and data services. The latest Alcatel OmniAccess WLAN solution includes stackable and chassis-based switches that provide broad Wi-Fi coverage and exceptional radio frequency (RF) signal management in heavy use areas, such as the state of Kansas’ capital campus or any other enterprise site around the state.

“We chose Alcatel because they offer leading edge, wireless technology at a good price with the best possible network security,” said Patrick Tierce, security and network infrastructure manager for the Kansas Department of Transportation. “Alcatel has integrated data security into its wireless LAN products to provide secure, seamless user access from wireless and wired LANs, as well as across the components of our existing mobility solutions. Alcatel also ensures that stolen access points do not compromise the network and rogue access points fail to connect.”

In addition to delivering a highly secure WLAN solution, the State of Kansas chose Alcatel for its experience and expertise in delivering advanced IP networking solutions, and its ability to provide post-sales support and local resources to help with the deployment of the wireless network and devices.

The State of Kansas plans to deploy its Alcatel wireless networks across the state with the first deployment in the Topeka state capitol campus followed by the Department of Transportation. The contract also allows any public entity in Kansas to buy under the terms of this contract.

“We’re happy that the State of Kansas has selected us to be their wireless LAN supplier,” said Tom Burns, senior vice president and general manager of Alcatel’s network infrastructure activities. “We were selected because of our willingness to work closely with them to develop a solution that works well in their government networks and the ability of our OmniAccess WLAN product family to increase their users’ productivity without increasing security risks to their network.”

Alcatel OmniAccess WLAN solution
The Alcatel OmniAccess WLAN solution is integrated into the Alcatel OmniVista Network Management infrastructure for a complete view of Alcatel wireless and wired infrastructure and for advanced security features such as network quarantine capabilities, centralized encryption for 802.11i, and user-aware stateful firewalls.

The Alcatel OmniAccess family includes three stackable units that support up to 48 access points and the Alcatel OmniAccess 6000, a four-slot modular controller that can control up to 512 access points. A complete series of single radio and dual radio access points complete the product family. The switches support 10/100/1000 Ethernet speeds and Power-over-Ethernet capabilities. The Alcatel OmniAccess WLAN switch product family can be used in enterprise campus, building, and branch office environments.

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 12.3 billion in 2004, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries.

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Charlie Guyer

Alcatel

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