Alcatel-Lucent and Neuf Cegetel to extend FTTH infrastructure in Paris as part of extensive social housing project

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today announced that it has signed a new frame agreement with Neuf Cegetel, France’s leading alternative service provider, for the deployment of a fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network in Paris. Alcatel-Lucent’s gigabit passive optical network (GPON) solution will enable Neuf Cegetel to offer very high-speed access and services to more than 100,000 apartments. The project is part of an initiative led by the Paris social housing office OPAC (Office Public d’Aménagement et de Construction) to bridge the digital divide in the French capital.

Alcatel-Lucent’s GPON solution will enable Neuf Cegetel to offer triple play services, including 18 television channels that are high–definition television (HDTV)-ready, high-speed Internet access and VoIP. Alcatel-Lucent will also provide Neuf Cegetel with installation and commissioning services.

“We renewed our confidence in Alcatel-Lucent’s future-proof GPON solution as it supports the introduction of advanced applications such as HDTV to a significantly increasing number of end-users,” said Jérémie Manigne, General Manager Broadband Division of Neuf Cegetel. “Alcatel-Lucent enables us to seamlessly extend full triple play services to all of the OPAC’s apartments in the Paris region and to build on this infrastructure to wholesale our network to other applications providers.”

“This extended FTTH partnership will help Neuf Cegetel to significantly and cost-effectively enlarge its FTTH access network and be a truly active player in the so-called ’fiberization’ of France,” said Pierre Barnabé, President of Alcatel-Lucent’s activities in France, Iberia & Italy. “Alcatel-Lucent is committed to provide Neuf Cegetel with innovative network solutions and support services, enabling them to bridge the digital divide in the Paris region while reinforcing their position in optical fiber in the French capital.”

As part of this frame agreement, Alcatel-Lucent will supply and provide project management for the deployment of its 7342 Intelligent Services Access Manager Fiber to the User (ISAM FTTU), leveraging GPON technology to multiplex voice, video and data services onto a single fiber and supporting a 2.5 Gbps downstream capacity, the highest bandwidth offered to the mass-market today. The solution is complemented by a range of in-house Alcatel-Lucent optical network terminals (ONTs).

This contract significantly increases Alcatel-Lucent’s market strength in GPON, and confirms the company’s readiness to engage in the mass deployment of GPON technology.

Alcatel-Lucent is engaged in over 80 FTTx projects worldwide, over 60 of which are with GPON. Leading service providers like Verizon, France Telecom, Hanaro Telecom and Hong Kong Broadband Network Limited have adopted Alcatel-Lucent’s GPON solution. Alcatel-Lucent’s GPON has also been selected by utility companies (a.o. NRGi Fibernet, Jönköping Energi, Bristol Virginia Utilities), municipalities (a.o. Arvidsjaur, Tidaholm [Sweden]), and regions such as Asturias (Spain).