PARIS, June 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext: Paris and NYSE: ALU) today announced that it has been chosen by BT to supply its IP Service Router in an expanded role within BT's 21CN all-IP national rollout. Alcatel-Lucent is a preferred supplier to the 21CN project with the 7750 Service Router (SR) operational in many locations. The 7750 SR deployments will now be expanded in line with BT's announced customer-driven plans to extend its Ethernet services with additional points-of-presence in the metro elements of the network. The value of the contract has not been disclosed.

After the introduction of 21CN Ethernet and broadband services early this year, BT is now expanding the footprint and functionality of both services. When completed by April 2009, the project will see next generation Ethernet services available across the widest footprint in the UK.

"BT has a commitment to meet our customers' increasing demand for Ethernet services and has therefore set out an aggressive expansion strategy for our 21CN Ethernet footprint," said Karl Penaluna, director, IP and Data platforms at BT. "Alcatel-Lucent's existing involvement with 21CN gives us confidence we can achieve these timescales."

The Alcatel-Lucent 7750 SR solution enables BT to offer true Ethernet any-to-any, multi-site solutions as well as multiple classes of service on an on-demand and application-by-application basis.

"This further expansion of our industry-leading 7750 SR solution in BT's 21CN network is a clear endorsement of the technological lead this product has. Its Quality of Service, reliability and service awareness features are critical factors in the delivery of mission-critical Ethernet Services to BT's customers," said Basil Alwan, President of IP activities at Alcatel-Lucent. "Alcatel-Lucent is supporting BT's project to roll out Ethernet-based services as customer demand grows and is pleased to be playing an expanded role in the delivery of this exciting new all-IP network."

In addition, Alcatel-Lucent is also supplying professional services to BT 21CN, including development of automated programs to migrate subscribers to the new networks. It is also providing a service to manage provision of spares for BT's existing network under a single-point-of-contact multi-vendor contract.

Alcatel-Lucent IP/MPLS solutions have been selected by more than 200 service providers in more than 90 countries. During the first quarter of 2008, Alcatel-Lucent reinforced its #2 position in IP/MPLS edge garnering 18% of the market according to Ovum-RHK. For more information, please visit: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/ipnews

About Alcatel-Lucent

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) provides solutions that enable service providers, enterprise and governments worldwide, to deliver voice, data and video communication services to end-users. As a leader in fixed, mobile and converged broadband networking, IP technologies, applications and services, Alcatel-Lucent offers the end-to-end solutions that enable compelling communications services for people at home, at work and on the move. With operations in more than 130 countries, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with global reach. The company has the most experienced global services team in the industry, and one of the largest research, technology and innovation organizations in the telecommunications industry. Alcatel-Lucent achieved revenues of Euro 17.8 billion in 2007 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

Alcatel-Lucent Press Contacts Régine Coqueran, Tel: +33(0)1-40-76-49-24, regine.coqueran@alcatel-lucent.com; Mark Burnworth, Tel: +33(0)1-40-76-50-84, mark.burnworth@alcatel-lucent.com; Alcatel-Lucent Investor Relations, Rémi Thomas, Tel: +33(0)1-40-76-50-61, remi.thomas@alcatel-lucent.com; John DeBono, Tel: +1-908-582-7793, debono@alcatel-lucent.com; Tony Lucido, Tel: +33(0)1-40-76-49-80, alucido@alcatel-lucent.com; Don Sweeney, Tel: +1-908-582-6153, dsweeney@alcatel-lucent.com