Mobile World Congress, BARCELONA, February 16 /PRNewswire/ --

- The Award Underlines Standard-Based Interoperability of Alcatel-Lucent's WiMAX(TM) Rev-e Solution

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today announced that it has received the WiMAX Forum Certified(TM) seal of approval for the 3.5GHz band version of its WiMAX Rev-e (802.16-2005 standard) compact base station. This achievement is recognition of the high quality and reliability of the company's WiMAX(TM) equipment.

We're pleased to certify Alcatel-Lucent's equipment in the 3.5GHz band, particularly given that breadth of the company's presence in WiMAX deployments worldwide in this frequency, said Ron Resnick, the president and chairman of the WiMAX Forum. The company's solution met all specifications in a series of tests at the labs of AT4 wireless, surpassing the WiMAX Forum's stringent certification requirements.

The certification reinforces Alcatel-Lucent's leadership position in WiMAX globally and in particular in the 3.5 GHz band, where the vendor has a commanding share of Rev-e network contracts awarded to date worldwide. Out of 34 Alcatel-Lucent Rev-e commercial deployments worldwide, 21 are in the 3.5GHz band, and seven of these are already in commercial service. Key to its commercial success has been implementation of advanced technologies such as beam forming, which extends cell range and thus reduces operators' deployment costs.

This new milestone follows the WiMAX Forum's certification of Alcatel-Lucent's 2.5GHz base station portfolio last summer and marks a significant step toward the certification of the company's entire portfolio of WiMAX solutions.

Alcatel-Lucent is proud to receive WiMAX Forum Certification, which acknowledges the development efforts we've made over the last four and a half years, said Paul Larbey, Head of the Next Generation Mobile Access activities for Alcatel-Lucent.Thanks to our rigorous RD process and our unique Open Device Program, customers can be confident that Alcatel-Lucent's WiMAX equipment will interoperate with any WiMAX Forum(R) certified device.

Alcatel-Lucent is the commercial leader in WiMAX Rev-e, having shipped more than 10,000 Rev-e base stations and installed equipment that already supports tens of thousands of paying subscribers.

In December, Alcatel-Lucent announced that it was refocusing its WiMAX RD efforts on the technology's dominant market opportunity, enhanced wireless DSL - which includes data-centric mobility usage on netbooks and mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) as well as residential and nomadic PC use. Alcatel-Lucent market research indicates that close to 90% of WiMAX Rev-e subscribers to 2013 will fall in this service category.

Prior to certification, Alcatel-Lucent's infrastructure portfolio as a whole already strictly complied with the Rev-e standard. The company guarantees strict alignment of features and compliance in all three recognized frequencies as part of its global WiMAX strategy. The company's Open Device Program helped pave the way for certification ensuring interoperability testing between Alcatel-Lucent infrastructure and WiMAX chipsets and end-user devices from diverse players.

Currently the WiMAX Forum(R) has more than 500 member companies including service providers, regulators, equipment vendors, chip vendors and content providers. Alcatel-Lucent is a member of the WiMAX Forum(R) board. It is also a founding member of the Open Patent Alliance, formed with other key industry players to advance WiMAX technology through more transparent intellectual property rights.

About WiMAX Forum(R)

The WiMAX Forum(R) is an industry-led, not-for-profit organization formed to certify and promote the compatibility and interoperability of broadband wireless products based upon the harmonized IEEE 802.16/ETSI HiperMAN standard. WiMAX Forum Certified products are interoperable and support broadband fixed, nomadic, portable and mobile services. Along these lines, the WiMAX Forum(R) works closely with service providers and regulators to ensure that WiMAX Forum Certified systems meet customer and government requirements. Through the WiMAX Forum Congress Events Series of global trade shows and events, the WiMAX Forum is committed to furthering education, training and collaboration to expand the reach of the WiMAX ecosystem. For more information, visit the trade show link at http://www.wimaxforum.org.

WiMAX Forum is a registered trademark of the WiMAX Forum. WiMAX, the WiMAX Forum logo, WiMAX Forum Certified, and the WiMAX Forum Certified logo are trademarks of the WiMAX Forum. All other trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.

About Alcatel-Lucent

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) is the trusted partner of service providers, enterprises and governments worldwide, providing solutions to deliver voice, data and video communication services to end-users. A leader in fixed, mobile and converged broadband networking, IP technologies, applications and services, Alcatel-Lucent leverages the unrivalled technical and scientific expertise of Bell Labs, one of the largest innovation powerhouses in the communications industry. With operations in more than 130 countries and the most experienced global services organization in the industry, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with a global reach. Alcatel-Lucent achieved revenues of Euro 16.98 billion in 2008 and is incorporated in France, with executive offices located in Paris. For more information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on the Internet: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

All trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.

Alcatel-Lucent Press Contacts: Regine Coqueran, Tel: +33(0)1-40-76-49-24, regine.coqueran@alcatel-lucent.com; Christine de Monfreid, Tel: +33(0)1-30-77-59-14, christine.de_monfreid@alcatel-lucent.fr; Alcatel-Lucent Investor Relations: Remi Thomas, Tel: +33(0)1-40-76-50-61, remi.thomas@alcatel-lucent.com; Tom Bevilacqua, Tel: +1-908-582-7998, bevilacqua@alcatel-lucent.com; Tony Lucido, Tel: +33(0)1-40-76-49-80, alucido@alcatel-lucent.com; Don Sweeney, Tel: +1-908-582-6153, dsweeney@alcatel-lucent.com