Alcatel-Lucent built one of the world’s largest Next-Generation Networks
for WANA in Morocco

Paris — Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) announced that the next generation network that it constructed for WANA, a Moroccan service provider, now has more than one million subscribers making it one of the largest class 5 NGN networks in the world. The service grew at a steady pace, adding 700,000 subscribers in a mere five months and exceeds all expectations.
According to Karim Zaz, CEO of WANA, “It was challenging to start as a third operator with two strong operators which had a 60% mobile penetration rate, but only a 4% fixed penetration rate. Alcatel-Lucent was able to build a very complex greenfield network, managing numerous suppliers and partners in only ten months. Alcatel-Lucent’s solutions and support allowed us to acquire more than one million subscribers in a short time period.”

“This commercial success has been achieved through an innovative marketing approach and aggressive commercial packages for our subscribers. Alcatel-Lucent's large services and product portfolio enabled WANA to simplify and democratize telephone services in Morocco lowering the threshold for WANA subscribers to acquire their own phone and enables them to make calls at accessible prices,” added Karim Zaz.

Alcatel-Lucent has been WANA’s main partner in constructing the network to cover all of Morocco, responsible for not only deploying the entire NGN Core network, but also acting as the prime integrator of the entire network. This included definition of the business-to-business and business-to-consumer services and the construction and preparation of sites in all regions of Morocco.
“The integration role was critical for a network such as WANA’s due to the complete heterogeneity of the network, and with numerous suppliers whom we had to integrate. We successfully managed the tremendous take up they experienced -- with more than 400,000 new subscribers in less than 2 months and a traffic three times higher than initially expected,” said Olivier Picard, president of Alcatel-Lucent’s activities in Europe and South.

The network features an Alcatel-Lucent NGN core, consisting of Media Gateway Controllers, a SIP Core soft switch and the associated application server, Session Border Controllers and Media Gateways.

About WANA
WANA is an integrated global telecom operator launched in February 2007, operating on the segments landline and soon mobile telephony after it had started as an Internet Service Provider in 1999. WANA targets residential, corporate and wholesale. By becoming a new global operator, WANA is keen to democratize and simplify access to telecommunications products for Moroccans and allow users, individuals and corporations alike to use the latest breakthroughs in terms of product innovation and service quality.

About Alcatel-Lucent

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) provides solutions that enable service providers, enterprises 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 adjusted proforma revenues of Euro 18.3 billion in 2006 and is incorporated in France, with executive offices located in Paris. [All figures exclude impact of activities transferred to Thales].