Travelusacc Discussion Threads

[grupo] 25/10/2004 08:33

Phone giants renew push for fiber optics

By BRUCE MEYERSON
The Associated Press


NEW YORK - For at least a decade, phone companies have been promising to rewire America with fiber-optic cables. Now, with a romp of regulatory victories in hand, the regional Bells say they're free to make good on that ambitious plan to bring lightning-fast Web and TV services to all the nation's homes.

In recent days, the nation's three biggest local phone companies announced plans to expand their fiber deployments, an endeavor that may take years to pay off for Verizon, SBC and BellSouth.

Some analysts wonder whether the companies can even afford the tens of billions of dollars it will cost to replace the copper in their networks. Further, the Bells will need to secure good enough terms on TV programming and lure enough customers from cable and satellite operators to justify the investment.

Skeptics also worry that government regulation may yet be used by the Bells as an excuse to stall.

But with cable TV and cellular companies offering their own phone and broadband services, the Bells maintain it's out with the copper, and in with the fiber.

To that end, Verizon announced Thursday that six more communities in three states are being offered its new fiber-based Internet service, first introduced to the Dallas suburb of Keller in August. Verizon also said fiber is now being installed in communities in nine states encompassing about 700,000 homes and businesses.

A day earlier, SBC said it had placed a $1.7 billion order with Alcatel of France for network equipment and video-system integration services.

Those announcements came about a week after the Bells responded to favorable rulings by the Federal Communications Commission - including one widely reported decision that was only announced Friday - by stepping up their commitment to fiber.

SBC said its deployment, budgeted at $4 billion to $6 billion, would deliver advanced services to 18 million households within three years rather than five as previously announced. BellSouth, which leads its peers with fiber already strung to the curb at 1.1 million homes, said it was increasing next year's deployment by 40 percent to about 180,000 homes.




Verizon stood by its projection to reach about 1 million homes at a cost of $800 million and another 2 million homes in 2005, though anecdotal evidence suggests it, too, has picked up the pace.

"Every discussion we've had with people close to (Verizon's) project indicate they are moving, and moving faster than the publicly announced plans," said Albert Lin, industry analyst for American Technology Research. Only Verizon's blueprint actually calls for the fiber to stretch right into the home.

The plan at BellSouth is to bring fiber to the curb, or within about 500 feet of most homes, and then complete the connection over the existing copper lines. SBC wants to extend fiber to the neighborhood, or within about 5,000 feet of homes before handing off to copper.

While all three companies are definitely digging up more cables and restringing more telephone poles than ever before, doubts remain.

To begin with, if the Democrats manage to recapture the White House in November, the FCC might tilt back toward forcing competition by requiring the Bells to lease their local lines to rivals like AT&T at low government-set rates.

The regulatory tide turned in March with a court decision that threw out the line-sharing process. The FCC has since voted three times to protect different types of fiber deployment from any sharing obligations.

Some skeptics contend that rewiring the nation will cost so much that even the Bells' newfound regulatory confidence isn't enough to justify the investment.

SBC, BellSouth and Verizon are all heavily in debt and pouring money as it is into upgrading their wireless operations with advanced technologies that would compete at least partly with the services to be delivered over fiber.

Then again, those very same concerns could be masking longer-term plans at SBC and BellSouth to install fiber all the way to the home once their wireless joint venture, Cingular Wireless, completes a $41 billion purchase of AT&T Wireless Services.

"SBC and BellSouth can't give the notion to shareholders that they need to spend billions on fiber because they are in the process of raising billions to close Cingular's acquisition of AT&T Wireless," said Lin.

[waldron] 22/10/2004 06:42

PARIS Alcatel, the world's largest provider of broadband Internet equipment, won a $1.7 billion order to build a fiber-optic network for SBC Communications, the companies said Thursday.
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Phone companies are quickening the construction of fiber-optic networks to offer new services, like digital television, to counter competition from cable-TV providers, which are offering phone services.
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On an annual basis, the contract from San Antonio-based SBC equals 2.4 percent of last year's sales at Alcatel, which is emerging from a three-year demand slump.
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"This win will underpin growth and high returns in Alcatel's broadband business over the medium term," analysts at Goldman, Sachs said in a note to investors.
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SBC, the biggest local-phone carrier in California, Texas and 11 other U.S. states, said it would build its fiber-optic network in two to three years instead of five years.
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Alcatel will provide SBC with switches and routers to direct data traffic across networks. SBC plans to spend $4 billion to $6 billion on the network, which will reach 18 million homes by the end of 2007 and will carry new services like digital television and voice calls via Internet. Alcatel's shares rose 81 cents to close at €10.94, or $13.77, in Paris.
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Verizon Communications, the largest U.S. telephone company, said Thursday it would hire as many as 5,000 workers by the end of next year to build a fiber-optic network directly to homes and businesses.
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The company named six additional states where the network will be built, including Virginia and parts of Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania. Verizon is spending $800 million this year to extend fiber-optic cables directly to homes

[maywillow] 21/10/2004 07:12

SBC Communications has awarded telecom equipment maker Alcatel a $1.7 billion contract to upgrade its network with fiber-optic technology.

Alcatel will provide SBC with network access, aggregation and switching equipment to allow the Baby Bell to offer more Internet-based services to its customers, the companies said Wednesday. The French equipment maker also will help SBC develop its fiber infrastructure to carry video streams delivered on an IP-based network.

The contract is part of SBC's Project Lightspeed initiative to upgrade its copper-wire network to faster fiber-optic lines. SBC is laying the groundwork to begin offering TV programming over the Internet by the end of 2005 as a product of its network upgrade.

"We're moving at light speed to bring IP-enhanced services to customers," Edward Whitacre, chief executive of SBC, said in a statement.

SBC has said it plans to bring its fiber extensions to neighborhood "nodes," but will stop short of installing the lines into homes. Instead, the company is testing other technologies, such as VDSL (very high-speed digital subscriber line) or ADSL 2+ (asymmetric DSL), to boost the copper wires that stretch from the node into the home.

The Baby Bells, which also include Verizon Communications, BellSouth and Qwest Communications, have all publicly stated their support for fiber, which can serve up to 100mbps (megabits per second) of bandwidth into each home. Verizon plans to spend $100 million building fiber into homes by the end of this year and will launch a video service next year.

BellSouth and Qwest, on the other hand, have said they will not build out fiber into homes, but rather upgrade their existing copper lines with VDSL or ADSL 2+.

The Baby Bells are trying to get into video as a way to compete against cable companies. Facing declining wire line subscribers, the Bells are trying to match the cable "triple threat" bundle of voice, video and high-speed Internet access.

[maywillow] 20/10/2004 20:55

Alcatel's new switches styled for convergence

By Jim Rendon, News Writer
20 Oct 2004 | SearchNetworking.com









Alcatel recently unveiled two new switches that integrate power over Ethernet and promise the high availability required by converged networks, but convergence has yet to help to buoy the company's fortunes in the competitive switching market.

The Paris-based telecommunications company announced the OmniSwitch 6602 Layer 3 workgroup switch, the OmniSwitch 6600 U24 fiber to the desk switch and power over Ethernet (PoE) capability for the 6600 switch family.

"We are driving three requirements to the edge of the network: network availability, security and manageability," said Brian Witt, Alcatel's director of product marketing.

The 6602 workgroup switch can be managed like any chassis switch. It offers virtual LAN support and quality of service, and it supports Alcatel's Automated Quarantine Engine that is designed to contain viruses. The switch is targeted at medium-sized enterprises and starts at $2,140.

The 6600 U24 fiber-to-the-desktop switch is designed for a more specialized market: the military and some campus environments; those workstations are located too far from the switch to be supported by copper. It supports the same functions as the 6602 and starts at $3,495.

With these additions to its product line, Alcatel, which does most of its business in voice communications, is expanding its switching product line to cover more of the enterprise networking market, said Max Flisi, an analyst with Framingham, Mass.-based research firm International Data Corp.

But Alcatel is taking on one of the most competitive market segments. The 6602 switch is designed for medium-sized enterprises, a market segment that other vendors also covet.

"Any time a company goes after large and mid-sized enterprises, there tends to be a lot of gear already installed," Flisi said. "It's competitive and displacement has to happen."

Alcatel may have better luck with its 6600 U24 switch, which is targeting a small but relatively uncompetitive market segment. If it can get a toehold in the military market with this product -- currently one of a few fiber-to-the-desktop switches -- Flisi said Alcatel may be able to develop inroads to government users as well.


For more information
Read our exclusive: Alcatel rolls out true 10 Gigabit switches.

Learn why, amid convergence, Alcatel touts carrier-class networks.



Convergence has become one of the key selling points for Alcatel, Flisi said, as it branches out from its voice-centric roots. Like others in the market, it is offering gear that supports voice, wireless and video, expecting that such a convergence will help drive sales of more specialized networking and VoIP gear.

For example, the addition to PoE to the 6600 family of switches will enable Alcatel customers to deploy VoIP phones and wireless access points without the added expense of running both power and data cables. Most vendors are announcing PoE capability in their switches. By next year, it should be ubiquitous, Flisi said.

Alcatel has also introduced high availability into its switches by enabling failover from one switch to another in the stack in the event that one should go down. That way, Witt said, video or voice communications on the network will continue uninterrupted.

But Alcatel's push with convergence has yet to result in significant gains, Flisi said. Between Q2 2003 and Q2 2004, according to IDC, Alcatel increased it port sales of switches by just 6% and its revenue was flat.

"They really need to carve out a market segment where they can be the strongest player," Flisi said.

[grupo guitarlumber] 19/10/2004 08:32

October 18, 2004

Alcatel and Thales Join Forces To Develop Secure IP Telephony Equipment To Enterprises

Alcatel and Thales will work together to integrate hardware encryption modules from Thales into the Alcatel OmniPCX Enterprise IP communication server.



Electronic equipment manufacturer Thales and Alcatel, which produces telecommunications equipment for carriers, ISPs, and enterprises, will jointly develop secure IP telephony solutions based on the Alcatel OmniPCX Enterprise IP communication server.
The two firms will integrate encryption modules based on Thales field proven Mistral technology into the Alcatel server, enabling wirespeed hardware encryption. The solution will be protected against accidental or deliberate encryption deactivation. Finally, keys auto-generation at all IP endpoints will provide authentication and call control integrity, without certificates management.

"Thanks to the encryption solution developed with Thales, our IP telephony solutions can offer a higher level of security than traditional telephony for those customers that need it to protect their business," says Jean-Christophe Giroux, President of Alcatel's enterprise solutions activities. The two companies say that early adopters will include financial services companies, high-level administrations, and selected industrial companies with a need for secure communications.

The firms expect that the first products they develop in this collaboration will be available in 2005.

[grupo guitarlumber] 18/10/2004 15:04

PARIS (AFX) - Alcatel said it has formed an alliance with Verizon
Communications Inc in managed communications services for small- and mid-sized
businesses, which means Verizon now offers the French company's full voice
product portfolio to the US market.
Alcatel said its US partner will begin offering the new services "soon",
initially in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.
[e-mail]
jad/lam

[maywillow] 18/10/2004 07:51

LONDON (AFX)- BATM Advanced Communications LTD said it has signed a "major"
OEM supply agreement with Alcatel, a telecom infrastructure supplier.
Under the deal,Telco LTD, a wholly owned subsidiary of BATM, will supply
Ethernet products to Alcatel.
BATM also said that in addition to the Alcatel supply deal, a "major"
European carrier has chosen an Alcatel/BATM solution in its network.
[e-mail]
ec

[waldron] 14/10/2004 11:54

Alcatel to Publish Third Quarter 2004 Results on October 28, 2004

PARIS, October 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA and
NYSE: ALA) will publish its third quarter financial results on Thursday,
October 28, 2004. The press release will be available on the Alcatel website
at or at approximately 7:45 am Paris time
(CET).
Alcatel's analyst conference call will begin at 1:00 pm Paris time. A
live audio webcast accompanied by a slide presentation will be available at
or at Media representatives and
analysts willing to ask questions during the Q&A session may dial in and
request the "Alcatel teleconference."
From the US: 888-428-4479
International: [phone]
We advise you to dial in 15 minutes before the start of the conference
call.
The conference call will be available for replay from October 28, 2004 at
6:15 pm to November 11, 2004 at 12:00 am (Paris time) at the following call
in numbers:
From the US: 800-475-6701 - passcode 49890
International: [phone] - passcode 49890
A press conference for media and journalists will be held, as usual, at
Alcatel Headquarters, 54 rue La BoC)tie, Paris 75008, at 8:30 am Paris time.
Please note that a passport or identity card will be requested at reception.
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 12.5 billion in 2003, Alcatel operates in more than
130 countries. For more information, visit Alcatel on the Internet:



SOURCE Alcatel

[maywillow] 13/10/2004 07:14

SAN JOSE (AFX) - Costa Rica's ombudsman yesterday called on the government
to ask the European Union to investigate French telecom giant Alcatel and other
foreign companies accused of bribing public officials.
The call follows the resignation Friday of former president Miguel Angel
Rodriguez from his job as secretary general of the Organization of American
States (OAS) over charges he received kickbacks from Alcatel.
"Those who hand bribes are just as responsible as those who accept them,"
ombudsman Jose Manuel Echandi told reporters.
"That is why we have asked the foreign ministry to ask the European Union to
determine who was responsible so that those companies are not hired in this
country," he said.
Costa Rican prosecutors are investigating allegations that politicians and
civil servants accepted up to 13 mln usd in bribes from Alcatel after the French
company gained the rights to operate 400,000 cellular telephone lines here in
2001.
Rodriguez, who served as Costa Rica's president from 1998 to 2002, insisted
he is innocent and that his resignation is for the good of the OAS.
jla/lt/ch/jfr

[waldron] 11/10/2004 11:42

PARIS (AFX) - Alcatel SA said it has formed a partnership with Telefonica
SA's Soluciones unit to jointly provide communications systems for businesses.
The two companies will offer services including internet protocol telephony
and calling center systems, based on Alcatel's OmniPCS communication server
platform.
Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed.
[e-mail]
js/jsa

[waldron] 11/10/2004 08:40

Alcatel wins Exhibition contract

Alcatel has announced that Feria Valencia, one of the largest exhibition centres in the world, located in Spain, has chosen the Alcatel OmniAccess WLAN range as a strategic platform for wireless LAN (WLAN) services to attendees. In 2003, Feria Valencia hosted more than 40 shows, serving more than one million professional visitors from all over the world. With the Alcatel OmniAccess Wireless LAN Enterprise Platform in each of its eight buildings, visitors can use any standard 802.11 device, such as a laptop or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), to get reliable and secure access to the internet, email, and other key business and personal resources from anywhere.

11-Oct-2004

[maywillow] 08/10/2004 10:27

PARIS (AFX) - Alcatel SA said it has won two "multi-million dollar
contracts" for the supply of network switching and infrastructure equipment from
Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Corp (VNPT), the country's state-owned
incumbent telecom operator.
The first order calls for the installation of the Alcatel 1000 switching
system in five Vietnam provinces, to expand fixed telecom services in the areas.
The second contract will see Alcatel supply a complete mobile network
system, including its Evolium mobile radio equipment, to expand mobile capacity
in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Alcatel said the contracts were signed during the official visit of
President Jacques Chirac to Hanoi.
[e-mail]
js/lam

[maywillow] 07/10/2004 15:46

Alcatel WiFis Exhibition
10.07.04

PARIS -- Alcatel (NYSE: ALA - message board) today announced that Feria Valencia, one of the largest exhibition centers in the world located in Spain, has chosen the Alcatel OmniAccess WLAN range as a strategic platform for wireless LAN (WLAN) services to attendees.

In 2003, Feria Valencia, located in Valencia, hosted more than 40 shows, serving more than one million professional visitors from all over the world. With the Alcatel OmniAccess Wireless LAN Enterprise Platform in each of its eight buildings, visitors can use any standard 802.11 device, such as a laptop or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), to get reliable and secure access to the internet, email, and other key business and personal resources from anywhere at Feria Valencia's world-class facility.

"Wireless mobility allows Feria Valencia's visitors to maintain a high level of productivity while attending trade fairs and other events because they are always connected," said Elias Gil del Rosal, Information Systems Department Director for Feria Valencia. "We evaluated solutions from other vendors, but found that only Alcatel offered a complete WLAN system that provided the scalability, ease of management, and high availability that Feria Valencia requires in a wireless network."

Feria Valencia's Alcatel OmniAccess WLAN network is deployed as an overlay network on top of an Alcatel OmniSwitch 7000 and 6600 network, providing a highly available, secure, and easy to manage wired and wireless infrastructure solution. This OmniSwitch network also complements Feria Valencia's internal OmniPCX voice network-making Alcatel its strategic vendor for all future applications gained from the convergence of voice and data and wired and wireless.

"Alcatel enterprise solutions offer Feria Valencia a best-of-breed wired and wireless infrastructure," said Serge Dujardin, vice president of Alcatel Network Infrastructure EMEA sales. "This combination of award-winning WLAN technology, industry proven LAN switch and IP-PBX solutions, and world-class support ideally positions Alcatel to make converged networks a business reality in Spain and throughout the rest of the world."

Alcatel SA

[grupo guitarlumber] 28/9/2004 07:13

LONDON, September 27 (newratings.com) - Analysts at UBS maintain their "neutral" rating on Alcatel (CGE.ETR), while raising their estimates for the company. The target price has been raised to €11.

Alcatel is a leading global provider of mobile handsets and wireless infrastructure solutions.

According to UBS' research note published this morning, the company is poised to achieve its cost savings guidance for 2005. Alcatel is likely to realize an additional €200 million in savings from reducing operating costs, compared to the earlier estimate, the analysts say. The company is expected to divest its Power Systems segment in the near future, the analysts add.

The company is poised to benefit in the long term from the new product cycle in the FTTP, FTTN and VoIP sectors, according to UBS. Alcatel is likely to witness healthy business momentum during 2H05, since 2005 is expected to be a transition year for the company, the analysts say.

The EPS estimate for 2005 has been raised from €0.61 to €0.67.

[waldron] 24/9/2004 07:04

Telecoms

The marriage of two phones

Sep 23rd 2004


New technology will abolish the difference between fixed and mobile phones



IS THE fixed-line phone a dead duck? Look at the numbers and the trends, and you might well conclude that it is. Mobile phones now outnumber fixed ones, and their numbers are growing fast, while the number of fixed lines is flat globally and declining in many countries. An increasing number of people, including 5% of Europeans, are "cutting the cord" and going entirely mobile, doing away with their fixed lines altogether. And while fixed-line phones have hardly changed in years, mobile phones have many handy features, such as the ability to store dozens of names and numbers, not to mention text messaging and other services.

Yet fixed-line phones do have their advantages. Calls are cheaper and clearer, and connections are much more reliable, as anyone who has trouble getting a strong mobile signal indoors will testify. Hence the current enthusiasm throughout the telecoms industry for the idea of "fixed-mobile convergence", which uses clever technology to provide the best of both worlds: the freedom of mobile and the reliability and low cost of fixed lines. Subscribers use the same handset to make calls via fixed lines at home, and mobile networks when out and about: they have one number and one voicemail box, and receive one bill.


Behind the scenes, this involves some clever tricks. Calls are handled within the home by a small base-station plugged into a fixed-line broadband-internet connection. This base-station communicates with nearby handsets using radio technology that operates in "unlicensed" spectrum, such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi (so you will need a new handset). The base-station pretends, in effect, to be an ordinary mobile-phone base-station. As you enter your house, your phone "roams" on to it. When you make a call, it is routed over the broadband link, which has enough capacity to handle several calls at once by different members of the household. Calls made in this way are billed as fixed-line calls. If you leave the house while making a call, you roam seamlessly back on to the ordinary mobile network. And when a friend comes to visit, her phone roams on to your base-station, but the charges for any calls made appear on her bill.



Great expectations
For fixed-line operators such as BT, Britain's telecoms incumbent and one of the leading proponents of fixed-mobile convergence, the appeal of this approach is obvious: rather than losing out to mobile phones, fixed lines can now co-operate with them, and win back some traffic. After selling off its wireless arm a few years ago, BT has re-entered the mobile market by reselling airtime on other operators' networks; most recently, it has formed a partnership with Vodafone. A converged fixed-mobile service will enable BT to lower costs by shifting some mobile calls on to its fixed network; it will also allow the company to differentiate itself from mobile-only operators.

So-called integrated operators, which own both fixed and mobile networks-such as Germany's Deutsche Telekom and Japan's NTT-also like the idea of fixed-mobile convergence. They can save money by merging network infrastructures and doing away with separate fixed and mobile divisions. France Telecom, for example, is reorganising itself into consumer and business divisions, rather than fixed and mobile. And Cingular, an American mobile operator owned by two fixed-line incumbents, BellSouth and SBC, is pursuing convergence as a way to improve coverage within buildings, and thus exploit fixed networks to gain a competitive advantage over other mobile operators.

Even mobile-only operators are getting involved, and making deals with fixed-line providers. Fixed-mobile convergence could help them fill the excess capacity on their 3G networks, and enable them to unload calls on to cheaper fixed networks where possible, to reduce costs. In short, everyone in the telecoms industry seems to like the idea, because they hope it will expand the market overall. Once people get into the habit of carrying their mobile phones around with them at all times, even in the home, they will probably make more calls. Vendors love the idea too, notes David Brown of Motorola, the world's second-largest mobile-handset maker, because as well as requiring lots of back-end equipment, fixed-mobile convergence presents the opportunity to replace a billion or so existing fixed-line phones.

It all sounds great, which explains why the idea of fixed-mobile convergence has been around for several years. But it is only now gaining any traction. One reason, says Niel Ransom of Alcatel, a telecoms-equipment maker, is the success of mobile phones: fixed-mobile convergence only makes sense if everyone has their own handset, which they now do, in the rich world at least. It is also now possible to cram multiple radios (one for mobile use, and one for use within buildings) into a single handset without adding much to its cost or size. But perhaps most important of all is the emergence of technical standards. This month a consortium of operators and suppliers, including Alcatel, BT, Cingular, Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia, Nortel and T-Mobile, announced specifications for integrating wide-area mobile with short-range Bluetooth and Wi-Fi networks. An agreed standard means that operators can proceed without the risk of being locked in to a particular technology.

Most observers agree that BT is the operator to watch. In July it co-founded an alliance of operators called the Fixed Mobile Convergence Alliance, the other members of which include NTT, Brasil Telecom and Korea Telecom. BT's trailblazing fixed-mobile convergence technology, known as "Bluephone", is being developed by a seven-company consortium that includes Alcatel, Motorola and Ericsson, and is being closely watched by other operators. "If I go anywhere in the world, and talk to any operator, they want me to tell them about Bluephone," says Mr Ransom. "They've all got their eye on it, and they will all be watching BT very carefully to see how this works." Now that technical standards have been agreed and handsets are becoming available, BT expects to start trials of Bluephone in December, in preparation for a launch next spring.

The big unanswered question is: do consumers actually want these new converged phone services? BT plans to market Bluephone on the basis that it is a simplifying technology, yet explaining exactly how it simplifies things is not easy. "Education is needed, and a focus on simplicity," says Andrew Cole of A.T. Kearney, a consultancy. One way to think of fixed-mobile convergence, he suggests, is that it brings the features of mobile phones into the fixed environment. Market research shows that people are receptive to the idea, he says, particularly if it means lower prices.

If Bluephone proves a success in Britain, it is likely to trigger the launch of similar services elsewhere. Mobile-only operators may then rush to team up with cable operators in order to compete, since being a mobile-only or fixed-only operator will no longer be viable, says Lars Godell of Forrester, a consultancy. More companies might also follow the lead of France Telecom, and merge their fixed and mobile divisions. The historic distinction between the two types of telephones would vanish. If all of this comes to pass, the terms "fixed" and "mobile" could become anachronisms within a few years.

[maywillow] 21/9/2004 09:51

EADS' Camus says space alliance with Alcatel/Finmeccanica not a priority

PARIS (AFX) - Philippe Camus, co-CEO of the European Aeronautic Defence and
Space Co (EADS), said an alliance of EADS' space operations with those of
Alcatel Alenia Space is not a priority for the group.
Alcatel Alenia Space was formed earlier this year by the merger of Alcatel's
satellite operations with those of Finmeccanica SpA.
"It is not one of my priorities to discuss with Alcatel the merger of
activities that have strategic importance for both companies," Camus said in an
interview with French daily Les Echos
"Furthermore, I am not convinced that a single producer (of satellites in
Europe) would be the most efficient," he added.
Camus said EADS aims to raise profitability for its Astrium space operations
to 6-7 pct within two years.
He also reiterated the group's target of delivering over 305 Airbus planes
this year, with double-digit percentage growth expected for deliveries in 2005.
[e-mail]
js/cw

[maywillow] 21/9/2004 08:55

MILAN (AFX) - Alcatel and Cisco Systems Inc are interested in the Italian
telecommunications equipment company Italtel, the daily Il Sole 24 Ore reported,
citing market sources.
Italtel has put plans for an initial public offering on hold, to study the
possibility of selling about half of its capital to another telecommunications
equipment supplier, the daily said.
Alcatel made an unspecified offer to buy into the company, while Cisco,
which already has an 18.4 pct stake in Italtel, is ready to significantly
increase its stake, it added.
Telecom Italia SpA, which has a 19.37 pct stake in Italtel and is its main
client, has no preference between Cisco and Alcatel, the newspaper said.
Italtel confirmed that the IPO procedures have slowed because of the current
situation on equity markets, the daily said.
pw/vs

[maywillow] 20/9/2004 18:41

LONDON, September 20 (newratings.com) - Analysts at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein maintain their "sell" rating on Alcatel (CGE.ETR). The target price is set to €8.

Shares of Alcatel, a provider of diversified communication equipments and services, are currently trading at €9.97.

According to Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein's research note published this morning, Alcatel's expected acquisition of two start-up companies and the disposal of the electrical power segment are likely to dilute the company's earnings and revenues in the medium term. The company is focused on strengthening product portfolio and is pursuing dilutive acquisitions, the analysts say.

Alcatel is expected to acquire Spatial Wireless and EDial in the near future for a fairly high price, according to Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein. The company is expected to sell its electrical power segment to Ripplewood, a private equity firm, by Q4 this year, the analysts say.

The EPS estimates for 2004, 2005 and 2006 are €0.08, -€0.08 and €0.05, respectively. The P/E estimates for 2004 and 2006 are 113.9x and 188.7x, respectively

[maywillow] 17/9/2004 08:18

PARIS (AFX) - Alcatel SA said it has signed agreements to acquire two US
companies, Spatial Wireless and eDial, while announcing plans to sell its
electrical power system activites to private equity firm Ripplewood.
Spatial Wireless, a developer of software-based mobile switching equipment,
will be bought for about 205 mln eur, and the deal should close in the fourth
quarter of this year.
EDial, a privately-held provider of voice and video conferencing systems,
was bought for 22 mln eur. The deal closed today.
Alcatel did not provide financial details for the sale of its electrical
power system operations to Ripplewood, but said the businesses had sales of 220
mln eur last year.
The sale will allow Alcatel to focus on its core telecom systems activities,
the company said.
[e-mail]
js/jlw

[maywillow] 10/9/2004 15:29

Alcatel Wins Libya Deal
09.10.04

PARIS -- Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA and NYSE: ALA) announced today that it has signed a major contract with General Post and Telecommunication Company (GPTC) for the supply of a complete solution including GSM/EDGE and 3G/UMTS infrastructure and services in Libya. This contract, which is worth within the scale of USD 100 million, increases Alcatel's leadership in Libya and constitutes a major UMTS deployment for Alcatel in Africa.

Under the terms of this contract, Alcatel will supply GPTC with its industry-leading EvoliumTM mobile radio access and core network solution to service 2.5 million GSM/EDGE and 3G/UMTS users throughout 75% of the Libyan territory. Furthermore, Alcatel will develop and integrate for GPTC a complete portfolio of attractive mobile services to be run throughout the operator's network over the whole country.

This network deployment, which is due to be completed by the end of 2005, builds upon the existing GSM/EDGE infrastructure already deployed by Alcatel for GPTC in 1996. With this new contract, Alcatel will enable the operator to dramatically extend its current GSM/EDGE footprint while deploying a brand new UMTS network in a single stage. Thanks to the flexibility of Alcatel's Evolium™ solution, GPTC will also give to a larger part of its GSM- network the capability to evolve to GPRS/EDGE and 3G/UMTS according to market needs.

[ariane] 09/9/2004 16:40

PARIS (AFX) - Alcatel SA said it won a contract from China Unicom to supply
integrated services networks in eight provinces in China.
No financial details were disclosed.
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[ariane] 08/9/2004 20:47

LONDON, September 8 (New Ratings) – Analysts at JP Morgan upgrade Alcatel (CGE.ETR) from "underweight" to "neutral," while raising their estimates for the company. The target price is set to €11.

Shares of Alcatel, a telecommunications equipment and service provider, are currently trading at €9.60.
According to JP Morgan's research note published this morning, the current upgrade in rating is based on valuation. Following a period of underperformance, Alcatel has indicated that several of its business segments are reporting growth at present, the analysts state. The company has made certain portfolio changes, by selling off its poorly performing business, the analysts add. JP Morgan expects Alcatel's revenue growth trends to accelerate through 2004.

JP Morgan mentions that Alcatel has completed its cost cutting initiatives. The company's operating leverage is expected to contribute minimally to its operating margin improvements in the near future, the analysts say. The recent joint venture with the China-based mobile equipment manufacturer, TCL, to produce and market mobile devices is, however, expected to support Alcatel's operating margins in the near-term, the analysts add. JP Morgan expects the growth rates in the wireless equipment market to decelerate this year.

The EPS estimates for 2004 and 2005 have been reduced from €0.54 to €0.53 and from €0.63 to €0.62, respectively. The P/E estimates for 2004 and 2005 are 18.0x and 15.6x, respectively.