Westcon Resells AlcaLu

SURESNES, France -- Westcon Group, Inc. announced that it has signed a value added distribution agreement with Alcatel-Lucent, Inc., a worldwide leading manufacturer of telecom and convergence products. Westcon will launch the Alcatel-Lucent portfolio initially in France, where Alcatel-Lucent enjoys a market leading position in voice and data. Westcon will follow shortly thereafter with a launch of the Alcatel-Lucent's data products in the United Kingdom.

By combining Westcon's networking strengths with Alcatel-Lucent's voice and IP telephony portfolio, the partnership positions Westcon Group to be the dominant specialty distributor in the European convergence market. Westcon France will offer the complete range of Alcatel-Lucent's Enterprise portfolio and provide French resellers with dedicated support resources including product specialists and enhancements to its VoicePoint program (http://www.voicepoint.westcon.com).

"This agreement presents some very compelling opportunities for both companies," commented Barry Shakespeare, EVP of Westcon Group Europe. "Given our current European presence, we will be in a position to bring Alcatel-Lucent products to the European reseller community as part of a complete Enterprise convergence offering. Already having our VoicePoint program in place is an obvious benefit that will increase the speed to market for both companies."

Olivier Frerebeau, general manager of European Business Development, said: "This agreement gives voice resellers in France the best of both worlds--high quality convergence products from a market leader along with all the benefits you would expect from a value-oriented distributor like Westcon: technical knowledge, sales expertise, integration support and our exceptional VoicePoint program, which helps resellers quickly understand how to position and sell these products in the market."

Westcon Inc.