Next Generation Communications Blog

November 2008

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Estonia: ALU Helps Elion Deliver Triple Play

Alcatel-Lucent this week announced an agreement with Elion Enterprises Ltd., the largest telecommunications provider in Estonia, to offer an improved triple play (voice, data and video) experience to Elion's customers.   Estonia has one of the highest rates of broadband penetration per capita in the world, and its citizens are savvy consumers of next generation services. Still any technological advance that enables more thorough support and simpler management of the deployed solution is a welcome addition by all parties.   To that end, Alcatel-Lucent will deploy its home network management solution, providing streamlined and automated installation and customer support as well as sophisticated diagnostic information, thus helping Elion reduce its operational costs and improve the quality of experience for its subscribers.   "As they introduce advanced triple-play offerings, service providers open customers' homes to devices and applications that create a more complex home environment. To that end, effective home network management is a must-have," said Lars Boilesen, responsible for Alcatel-Lucent's activities in the Nordic and Baltic countries.    

Rich Tehrani Welcomes Next Generation Communications Community

Rich Tehrani, president of TMC and Group Publisher and Editor in Chief of the company's print publications and TMCnet Web site, posted the following entry to his blog today, welcoming Alcatel Lucent and the Next-Generation Communications global online community to the TMCnet family.

 

Rather than pick out bits and pieces, the entire blog is being reposted here for your reading pleasure.

 

Rich's blog can be found here, and we urge you to check back daily to see what he's writing about.

 

 

 

If there is one certainly it is that technology seems to evolve at a faster clip today than at any other time in our lifetimes. Moore's Law is part of this evolution but just as important is convergence.

Beyond Cost Savings: Leveraging VoIP for Innovation

Even in a slow economy, enterprises need to consider purchasing solutions that will help make them more productive, more efficient and better positioned to ward off competitors.   Alcatel-Lucent has launched a new OmniSwitch 9000E, in a move designed to help enterprises make more money while helping workers improve productivity and customer service. TMCnet had a chance to interview Patrick Thorel, director of large enterprise solutions marketing at Alcatel-Lucent, about the new solution, as well as about how this slower economy is fueling interest in unified platforms and the lure of VoIP for large enterprises.   According to Thorel, VoIP's major draw for those companies isn't cost-savings, but gaining a platform for voice application integration and innovation.   To check out the interview, please follow this link.  

In Tough Economy, Innovation Holds the Key

Alcatel-Lucent, currently undergoing a strategy review under their new CEO, recently said that market conditions are forcing the firm to lower their 2008 sales expectations by 2-5 percent, according to this Reuters item.   However, the article also reported that ALU's investor relations chief, Remi Thomas, said he believed "carriers would continue to invest in strategic areas designed to generate new business, in capital equipment that could reduce operating expenses, and to meet regulatory requirements."   It is precisely this need for customers to generate new business that should help firms that develop innovative telecom solutions to weather the financial storms roiling the global markets.   A recent article by Xavier Martin, who handles Strategic Marketing for the Enterprise Solutions Division at Alcatel-Lucent, speaks to the evolution currently underway at enterprises across the globe. In the article, The Dynamic Enterprise - Leveraging 2.0 Applications, the author states that:   Over the next few months and years, a growing number of mid-market, large and multinational companies will learn that significant gains can be made by integrating tangible and intangible organizational assets - network, people, processes and collective knowledge - to boost productivity and efficiency and achieve a competitive advantage.   Martin also speaks of the need for CIOs to evolve in step with the needs of their evolving enterprise to ensure that the technology is implemented in a seamless way to achieve the goals of the organization:   Their new responsibilities make it necessary for them to look beyond technology toward enabling business objectives such as attracting customers and supporting key processes. Thus, in Dynamic Enterprises, CIOs must carefully tailor their portfolio of projects with an eye to realizing a comprehensive business transformation over a period of time.   Check out the full article here.

Welcome to the Next-Generation Communications Blog

Well, it's finally here! The long-awaited (official) launch of the Next-Generation Communications blog, a daily feature of the Next-Generation Communications global online community, sponsored by Alcatel-Lucent.

In this blog, we'll have a look at the various forces and trends that are driving the next-generation communications market forward. We'll cover the latest news of the day and offer our opinions on emerging technologies and solutions, and the effect they are having on the evolution of the next-generation communications space.   We invite you to explore the community and take advantage of the wealth of information that is presented herein. There's something for everybody, whether you approach the market from the position of a service provider, looking to offer innovative applications to your end customers, or if you are an enterprise consumer, looking to leverage next-generation offerings to gain a measure of competitive advantage.   If you look at the world of next-generation communications through the lens of someone operating within a particular vertical market -- be it Healthcare, Energy, Education, Government, Finance, Hospitality, Media & Broadcasting or Transportation -- you will find articles, whitepapers, videos, podcasts relevant to your needs.   As you peruse the community, you will notice resources that drill down into a diverse array of subject areas, ranging from Eco Sustainability to Broadband (wireless and wireline); from Network and Services Transformation to Business Transformation; and of course areas dedicated to evolving Content Delivery models and technology that enables today's increasingly Digital Lifestyle.   We urge you to bookmark this site and refer back regularly for updates via this blog as well as new and compelling content that will be added on an ongoing basis.   Welcome to the exciting world of Next Generation Communications!  

ALU, BT Extend Services Pact

Building on a Multi-Vendor Managed Services contract signed in November 2006, Alcatel-Lucent has announced a seven-year extension of its partnership with UK carrier BT, focused on the support of BT's global network operations. According to published reports, Alcatel-Lucent will manage most of the legacy networks serving BT Global Services' customers, thus freeing up BT to focus on its next-generation communications initiative, the BT Global 21CN Platform. During the first phase of the project Alcatel-Lucent will assume operations for five legacy global and domestic networks in 27 countries outside the UK, along with the BT Global Managed Platform legacy transport network. 

North Africa to See Enterprise Voice & Data

Tunisia telecomm integrator TTE and Alcatel-Lucent have joined forces to supply enterprise voice and data solutions in the North African nations of Libya and Tunisia. The agreement will showcase the two firms' common skills and technological abilities and broaden their presence in North Africa. Alcatel-Lucent and TTE will work together to offer complete and secure communication solutions while evolving the network infrastructure to help businesses and governments increase competitiveness and cost-effectiveness. To mark the special occasion, an open house will be held on Nov. 13, 2008 at "Les Berges du Lac Concorde Hotel" in Tunis, Tunisia. 
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