ewz selects Alcatel-Lucent for Triple Play

Paris, March 2008 — Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) and ewz, the Zurich, Switzerland Municipal Electric Utility, today announced that ewz has selected Alcatel-Lucent’s Triple Play Service Delivery Architecture (TPSDA) to deliver high-speed broadband voice, video and data services to residential and business customers in Zurich. The solution will provide a standards-based Open Access Network (OAN), allowing users to select services from many service providers. The contract also includes network maintenance.

Alcatel-Lucent will provide a flexible and reliable infrastructure with nearly unlimited available bandwidth enabling service providers to deliver advanced broadband services including high-definition television (HDTV), video-on-demand (VOD), VoIP and high-speed Internet access.

"During the selection process, we have been convinced by the high quality and performance of the Metro Ethernet vendors we have looked at. The vendors had to meet our requirements - for example for the set up of prototypes in the ewz locations - all in a short timeframe.
Alcatel-Lucent has won the tender as they could best match all of our requirements", said Peter Messmann, managing director Telecom from ewz.

“We are proud to partner with ewz delivering the first FTTU-based city network in Switzerland,” said Franz Stampfli, Country Senior Officer for Alcatel-Lucent’s activities in Switzerland. “This project further strengthens our leading position in open access networks worldwide and more specifically in Switzerland. Alcatel-Lucent’s triple play solution enables local service providers to offer the most advanced voice, data and video services to customers in Zurich”.

Under the term of the contract, Alcatel-Lucent will deploy a complete end-to-end solution, including its 7450 Ethernet Service Switch, the OmniSwitch 6850 Ethernet Access Switch, the 5620 Service Aware Manager for integrated network and service management, as well as residential and business customer premises devices.

Alcatel-Lucent is the leader in end-to end-triple play networks, currently deploying its TPSDA with worldwide operators, municipalities and utilities, now including ewz. Alcatel-Lucent is also the world leader in both IPTV and Mobile TV, having already enabled TV, video and music services for more than 140 fixed and mobile service providers around the world.