Türk Telekom Picks Alcatel for DSL

PARIS -- Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA and NYSE: ALA), announced today that it has again been awarded a multi-million Euro expansion contract by Türk Telekom, the incumbent telecom operator in Turkey, to supply 600,000 Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL) that will further boost the development of broadband services in Turkey.

The broadband network extension, which comes on top of the 200,000 DSL lines delivered last year by Alcatel, will enable Türk Telekom to expand its service coverage to remote sites throughout the country. It will also further strengthen the operator’s position in the broadband access market by providing increased network capacity and meeting customer demand for improved high speed Internet access services, Voice over IP (VoIP) and, in the future, video services. The deployment, which will start in the second quarter of 2005, will be completed in five phases over a two-year period.

Over the past years, Alcatel has supplied the majority of Türk Telekom’s core Internet infrastructure, referred to as “TTnet”, 100% of the narrowband access network, as well as the majority of the DSL network. The current contract is for the delivery of the Alcatel 7300/7301 Advanced Services Access Manager (ASAM), the most widely deployed DSL platform.

"This is another significant win for Alcatel in Turkey. With our strong global competence in business consultancy and broadband access solutions, we will continue to support Türk Telekom in achieving further growth in its broadband telecom business,” said Michel Rahier, chief operating officer of the Alcatel’s fixed communications activities. “After extending its broadband coverage of the market, Türk Telekom will be well positioned to expand its service offering and gradually migrate towards triple play.”

Alcatel