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Alcatel-Lucent appoints new UK/Ireland leadership


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Lucy Dimes appointed CEO of Alcatel-Lucent UK/Ireland;

Sir Christopher Bland joins as Non-Executive Chairman UK/Ireland

Paris - Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today announced that Lucy Dimes and Sir Christopher Bland will be joining the company to lead its UK and Ireland activities.

Alcatel-Lucent has appointed Lucy Dimes to succeed Lakh Jemmett as the new CEO of the Company’s operations in UK and Ireland. Lucy brings to Alcatel-Lucent more than 20 years of telecommunications industry knowledge, most recently serving in BT as Managing Director of Group & Openreach Service Operations at BT Operate. Ms. Dimes will join in April, at which time Mr. Jemmett will transition to the new role of Vice President of Transformation for Europe, Middle East and Africa Region, reporting to Adolfo Hernandez, President of the Region.

Sir Christopher Bland will become non-executive chairman for Alcatel-Lucent’s UK entity effective immediately, deploying his extensive business, government and telecommunications expertise to the operations in the UK and Ireland. In this newly created position Sir Christopher will provide operational and business oversight to Alcatel-Lucent’s UK/Ireland business, act as a lead advisor in engagements with key customers, external organizations, and other major commercial opportunities. Sir Christopher brings a distinguished career in the media and communications sectors including roles as Chairman of the BBC, Chairman of LWT, senior adviser at Warburg Pincus, and Chairman of BT.

Alcatel-Lucent is a major employer in the UK and Ireland, and maintains operations in multiple locations in both countries. The UK is home to a major Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks facility where it designs, manufactures, installs and commissions optical submarine systems bringing broadband around the world. Ireland hosts a major Bell Labs research and development facility.

Earlier this year Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks was the recipient of the UK Queen’s export award, the UK’s most prestigious awards for business performance and the third year this business has won this award.

Alcatel-Lucent counts every major service provider and many large enterprises in the UK and Ireland as customers. It is a major supplier to BT’s 21CN Next Generation Network and is the UK market’s leader in DSL (broadband) installations to the home. Alcatel-Lucent in the UK is a provider of key infrastructure not only to major institutions including healthcare and education but is also a key vendor for the British National Rail System and the Highways Association.

“Alcatel-Lucent is a global player with extraordinary reach and depth. I look forward to seeing that reach and depth matched in the UK and Ireland market,” said Sir Christopher.

“I‘m delighted to be joining Alcatel-Lucent at this important point in our transformation journey and am excited about the opportunity our strengths in technology and innovation afford in the UK and Ireland market place. I’m looking forward to meeting all our key customers and partners and strengthening those relationships further,” said Ms Dimes.

“Sir Christopher and Lucy bring strength to the company at a critical time as we continue to be an ever more strategic player in providing the underlying infrastructure for a Digital Britain and a Digital Ireland,” said Adolfo Hernandez, president of Alcatel-Lucent’s operations in EMEA.

About Lucy Dimes

Lucy Dimes joined BT in 1991 and quickly rose through its ranks from marketing of its Business Telephony operations to general manager of its broadband wholesale business to Global VP and managing director of the BT/HP strategic alliance. Most recently she was the Managing Director for Group & Openreach Service Operations within BT Operate, managing the relationship between BT Operate, BT Group & Openreach and driving growth programs in optical fibre/super fast broadband and Ethernet technologies.

Lucy Dimes holds an MBA from the London Business School.

About Sir Christopher Bland

Christopher Bland served as the chairman of the board for BT plc from 2001 until 2007. In that position he helped transform the organization as it increased revenues from their new wave services - such as broadband and networked IT services – while at the same time as defending their traditional businesses. Prior to BT, Christopher was Chairman of the BBC Board of Governors for six years. At the BBC, Christopher led the negotiations which secured the future funding of the BBC through the license fee. During his tenure, the BBC also launched new digital television services including BBC Choice and BBC News 24, and created BBC Online, Europe’s largest content website.

Sir Christopher has extensive media experience, both of the industry and as a regulator. He was Deputy Chairman of the Independent Broadcasting Authority from 1972 to 1979. In 1982 he became a non-executive director of LWT plc and Chairman in 1983, a post which he held until 1994.

He was educated at Sedbergh School in Cumbria and The Queen’s College, Oxford.

About Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) is the trusted transformation partner of service providers, enterprises, strategic industries such as defense, energy, healthcare, transportation, and governments worldwide, providing solutions to deliver voice, data and video communication services to end-users. A leader in fixed, mobile and converged broadband networking, IP and optics technologies, applications and services, Alcatel-Lucent leverages the unrivalled technical and scientific expertise of Bell Labs, one of the largest innovation powerhouses in the communications industry. With operations in more than 130 countries and the most experienced global services organization in the industry, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with a global reach. Alcatel-Lucent achieved revenues of Euro 15.2 billion in 2009 and is incorporated in France, with executive offices located in Paris. For more information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on the Internet: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com, read the latest posts on the Alcatel-Lucent blog http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/blog and follow us on Twitter: external linkhttp://twitter.com/Alcatel_Lucent.



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