Hanaro Telecom selects Alcatel for advanced broadband network

First GPON trial in Korea to prepare for all-fiber access network


Paris, November 15, 2006 - Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA and NYSE: ALA) today announced that Hanaro Telecom, Korea’s leading competitive service provider, has selected Alcatel for its Gigabit Passive Optical Networking (GPON) trial in Korea. This commercial pilot signals a major breakthrough for GPON in the Korean market and in the greater North-East Asian region.

The GPON trial, which started in October 2006, is using a future-proof fiber access technology capable of delivering ultra-high speeds of 100 Mbps. Upon the successful completion of the trial, Hanaro Telecom will be able to build an all-fiber access network, enabling advanced triple play services - including high-speed internet, high definition video, and multi-player interactive gaming - much to the benefit of Korean households.

“Alcatel’s scalable and flexible access network will allow us to host a wealth of applications, delivering greater value to our customers and optimizing costs,” said Minho Bae, Senior Manager, Technical Planning Team of Hanaro Telecom. “We are seeing GPON becoming the key fiber-to-the-user (FTTU) standard worldwide with increased adoption of this technology. By trialing GPON with Alcatel, we are achieving our target in terms of innovation and performance and creating the framework for an ultra-high speed broadband access network.”

Hanaro Telecom is deploying the Alcatel 7342 Intelligent Services Access Manager fiber-to-the-user (ISAM FTTU), a solution designed to provide the high data rates, interoperability and quality of service (QoS) that service providers need to advance the adoption of triple play services by the subscribers. Alcatel’s solution ideally satisfies customer demand for high bandwidth, user-centric broadband services at the cost of copper access.

“With GPON deployments ongoing in all continents, Alcatel is committed to using its expertise to the benefit of Hanaro Telecom. Our product caters to the market’s continuous demand for higher bandwidth to support advanced services of voice, data and video at the home,” said Dirk Van den Berghen, President of Alcatel’s access network activities. "With Alcatel’s GPON solution, Hanaro Telecom will leapfrog competition with the most innovative access technology.A

As the global leader in broadband access, Alcatel is the first vendor to deliver a Full Service Access Network (FSAN) Group-compliant GPON system. Alcatel is currently engaged in more than 16 GPON projects worldwide with service providers such as Verizon (US), Ministry of Communications (Kuwait), Jönköping (Sweden), Singtel (Singapore), and City Cable Shunan Corporation (Japan), to name a few.

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. For more information, visit Alcatel on the Internet: http://www.alcatel.com

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Mark Burnworth

Corporate Media Relations

Alcatel

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