PARIS and SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA and NYSE: ALA) and Intel Corporation today announced that they have signed an agreement to improve time to market of Advanced Telecom Computing ArchitectureR (or AdvancedTCA) platforms for mobile service providers. Both companies will further work together on the design and development of AdvancedTCA subsystem building blocks to increase standardization and component interoperability across the mobile telecommunications industry. The new Alcatel solutions resulting from this collaboration are expected to be available in early 2006, and use an IntelR PentiumR M processor-based AdvancedTCA single board computer.

The collaboration will allow Alcatel to bring service providers additional benefits, including faster time to market for new service applications by offering standards-based platforms. These standards-based platforms allow flexibility in network deployment, rapid pace of innovation throughout the supply chain, and long-term technology protection for investments in capital equipment.

This agreement builds upon Alcatel's earlier announcement to use AdvancedTCA as a preferred platform architecture, benefiting the entire portfolio of fixed and wireless network solutions. The agreement extends Alcatel's mobile portfolio that already includes several commercially available AdvancedTCA-based solutions.

AdvancedTCA is a series of industry standard specifications for the next generation of carrier-grade communications equipment. AdvancedTCA incorporates the latest trends in high-speed interconnect technologies and next-generation processors, for improved reliability, manageability and serviceability, resulting in a new blade (board) and chassis (shelf) form factor optimized for communications.

The companies will engage in joint development activities in such areas as system architecture definition and board and solution design based on Intel processors, with the resulting products to be available across the industry. Alcatel will participate early in Intel's standard product definition process, ensuring a tight match between requirements and customer usage models. In addition to this implementation effort, the two companies remain closely aligned in their participation with standards bodies defining the specifications for modular communications platforms, such as PICMGR for AdvancedTCA, Service Availability? Forum for high-availability middleware and OSDL for Carrier-Grade Linux.

"Intel's collaboration with Alcatel to build a long-term, stable AdvancedTCA building block roadmap will undoubtedly accelerate the industry's move to modular, open standard-based architectures," said Doug Davis, vice president, Digital Enterprise Group (DEG) and general manager, Communications Infrastructure Group (CIG) at Intel Corporation. "By working closely with Alcatel during the early stages of AdvancedTCA-based building block development, Intel is helping Alcatel realize significant time-to-market benefits as it delivers end-to-end integrated network application solutions and services for the telecommunications industry, starting with the mobile NGN segment."

Intel Corp.

Alcatel