Alcatel-Lucent confirmed as global IPTV access and middleware market leader

Cornerstones of Alcatel-Lucent’s IPTV solution lead 100+ vendor list

Paris.— Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today announced that the Multimedia Research Group (MRG), one of the leading analyst firms in the field of IPTV, has ranked Alcatel-Lucent – for the second time in a row – as the global number one in the domains of IPTV access and IPTV middleware.

MRG’s top-notch, bi-yearly IPTV Market Leaders Report1 identifies which IPTV systems and software companies are leading each of the six IPTV market segments: Access, Video Headend, Video-on-Demand, Middleware, Set-top Box, and Content Protection/Digital Rights Management. Well over 100 vendors and product divisions are involved in this assessment, with each vendor’s market position being measured by tracking the actual numbers of active IPTV subscribers that use (or are supported by) their respective products.

“Once again, Alcatel-Lucent is at the top of the middleware and access categories due to its strong showing in residential IPTV deployments in North America and Europe,” said Jose Alvear, IPTV Analyst with MRG, and lead author of the Market Leader Report. “Additionally, Alcatel-Lucent is well positioned for future growth because it has deployments with many major IPTV service providers, and is expanding to regions around the world.”

“We are delighted to be recognized – once again – as the global IPTV access leader by one of the most influential analyst firms in the industry,” says Dave Geary, President of Alcatel-Lucent’s wireline networks activities. “Actually, one out of three fixed broadband subscribers around the world is served through an access network provided by Alcatel-Lucent – thanks to our longstanding leadership in DSL (185 million lines shipped to date), and our more recent successes in the FTTH space (more than 90 customers so far). We will continue to strengthen our number one position through ongoing innovation, helping our customers deliver IPTV services in an optimal and cost-effective way.”

“Alcatel-Lucent is the trusted advisor and partner in network integration for many of the world’s leading IPTV service providers, including AT&T, Singtel, CHT and Telefonica,” adds Geeta Chaudhary, VP of Alcatel-Lucent’s multimedia integration services activities. “Supporting more than 4 million end-users worldwide across 50 multimedia integration projects, Alcatel-Lucent also offers an impressive range of innovative, middleware agnostic application enablers - such as the Alcatel-Lucent Video Server Appliance, Interactive Media Manager and Multimedia Content Manager products.”

[1] IPTV Market Leaders Report - Published by MRG, Inc. - March 2009