Alcatel positioned in the leader quadrant for next generation SDH/SONET reports

Paris, April 10, 2006 - Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA and NYSE: ALA) today announced that research firm Gartner has positioned Alcatel in the leaders quadrant of both the 2006 “Magic Quadrant for Next-Generation SDH” and “Magic Quadrant for Next-Generation SONET” reports*.

“While confirming our position in the optical multi-service segment, we consider the entry in the leaders quadrant for next-generation SONET is a first step demonstrating our commitment to further penetrate the North American market,” stated Romano Valussi, President of Alcatel’s optical networking activities.

Gartner’s Magic Quadrants positions vendors in a particular market segment based on their vision and ability to execute that vision. According to Gartner, leaders are performing well today, have a clear vision of market direction and are actively building competencies to sustain their leadership position in the market.

The telecom market is showing increased demand for more network and user-centric broadband applications - including mobile backhauling triple play, video distribution and Ethernet virtual private networks (VPN). In an effort to effectively deliver these applications, service providers are now focusing on network transformation projects to achieve maximum efficiency in service delivery and network operational savings through traffic aggregation.

With its leading-edge optical multi-service product portfolio, Alcatel is at the forefront of the transformation of optical transport to IP/Ethernet. After pioneering the optical multi-service concept, Alcatel has raised the bar even higher with the launch of its 1850 Transport Service Switch (TSS). This new product further enhances Alcatel’s next-generation SONET/SDH product portfolio that includes the Alcatel 1677 SL, 1678 Metro Core Connect and data-aware Optical Multi-Service Node (OMSN) systems.

* The “Magic Quadrant for Next Generation SDH equipment, 2006” authored by P. Kjeldsen and T. Hanson was published on March 10th, 2006. The “Magic Quadrant for Next Generation SONET equipment, 2006” reports - authored by T. Hanson and P. Kjeldsen was published on March 28th, 2006. The Magic Quadrants are copyrighted March, 2006 by Gartner, Inc. and are reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner’s analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the “Leaders” quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

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.

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Régine Coqueran

Corporate Media Relations

Alcatel

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