Gtd Manquehue selects Alcatel-Lucent to deploy first fiber-to-the-home network in Chile based on GPON technology

Paris, July 2008 - Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today announced that it has been selected by Gtd Group, one of the main service providers in Chile, to deploy the country’s first network based on fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) gigabit passive optical network (GPON) technology. Installation and deployment of the GPON network will start in the third quarter of 2008, initially serving residential broadband users in Santiago’s prestigious Santa María de Manquehue district, with other neighborhoods of Chile’s capital city following shortly after.

Alcatel-Lucent’s solution will enable Gtd Manquehue, which serves residential customers and small and medium businesses for the Gtd Group, to deliver advanced broadband services such as high-definition television (HDTV), Internet protocol television (IPTV), video on demand (VoD) and high-speed Internet. Alcatel-Lucent’s GPON architecture also will enable Gtd Manquehue to seamlessly migrate its traditional voice services to voice over IP (VoIP).

“We selected GPON technology so we can offer our customers unlimited triple play and advanced business services backed with a richer quality of experience, which we think will better serve our residential and business customers and give us a competitive advantage in this market”, said Alberto Domínguez, General Manager of Gtd Manquehue. “Alcatel-Lucent’s worldwide leadership in broadband and their experienced local services teams will help Gtd Manquehue successfully deploy this new fiber infrastructure, the first of its kind in Chile ”.

“Operators are facing an increasingly competitive environment so the evolution toward fiber is the next logical step they need to take to strengthen their position ”, said Victor Agnellini, President of Alcatel-Lucent’s activities in the Caribbean and Latin America region. “Alcatel-Lucent has been an important supplier of optical and IP/MPLS solutions to Gtd Group, and we are fully committed to support the evolution of this operator’s network, as they launch innovative services to their customers ”.

Gtd Manquehue will deploy the Alcatel-Lucent 7342 Intelligent Services Access Manager Fiber-to-the-User (ISAM FTTU)and the Alcatel-Lucent 5520 Access Management System for element management. The 7342 ISAM FTTU has been the market’s first platform to comply with the GPON recommendations of the Full Service Access Network (FSAN) group.

Alcatel-Lucent remains the uncontested market leader in fixed broadband access with more than 166 million DSL lines shipped to date and a cumulative market share of more than 40%, more than three times that of its nearest competitor. More than 185 customers have adopted the Alcatel-Lucent ISAM product family – the industry’s first true high-end IP access platform that accommodates a wide range of access flavors and topologies. Alcatel-Lucent is engaged in more than 80 FTTx projects around the world, more than 60 of which are with GPON. Alcatel-Lucent is also a global leader in design, deployment, installation and maintenance of networks through its Services business.