100-Year-Old Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Strides into A New Century

Paris, 13th February 2020

As 2020 rolls in, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, a leading provider of communication, network and cloud solutions strides confidently into the new decade, building on its 100-year history.

Founded in 1919, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise celebrated 100 years of “connecting things” last year. The group has evolved from a pioneer in the French telecommunications industry to a global technology force with operations in over 50 countries and partnerships with some of the world’s biggest brands. As communications and network technologies have evolved, so has Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, underlining its unwavering commitment to innovation. Marrying commercial success with corporate responsibility, this is a future-oriented company with a solid pedigree.

A Strong Customer Portfolio

Today Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise serves more than 830,000 customers, delivering its broad expertise in five main verticals: healthcare, education, hospitality, transportation, and government. Major contracts signed by the group in 2019 underscore its globally dominant position in these five sectors.

Among the company recent education projects was the implementation of a data centre solution for the California State University using OmniSwitch and OmniVista technologies from Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise. Enabling faster downloads, less latency, less time to do backups, and less congestion ALE solution saved Cal State estimated $100 million while introducing more services like video, unified communications, CCTV (security IP cameras), high definition TV in the network and BYODs devices.

A government project, for the city of Münster, Germany, provided Mobile Communications, Wireless LAN, and WLAN Stellar solutions offer a comprehensive, unified WLAN infrastructure with central management across all 80 locations. While in hospitality, ALE OmniAccess Stellar Access Points introduced hospitality solutions to create pervasive, hotel-wide connectivity for both travelers and business guests.

“As our clients are engaged in large-scale changes, we are convinced that our model, which combines business and organizational dimensions with expertise on the human aspects of digital transformations, provides our clients with a global and differentiated solution. Building on 100-years of experience, our model and proven-expertise in key verticals create reliable outcomes for our clients,” said Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Chief Executive Officer Jack Chen. 

Unwavering support for humanitarian causes

Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise has a long history of supporting worthy humanitarian organisations around the world. A perfect example is Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise ongoing collaboration with Mercy Ships, which provides cutting-edge clinical care to some of the most vulnerable communities in the world using ocean-going hospital ships. In 2020, ALE will use its expertise to upgrade the Africa Mercy vessel with advanced systems to support its mission. ALE is also part of the UN Global Compact initiative and volunteers its resources for human rights, for the environment, and to fight corruption.

“We believe that monitoring the social and environmental impact of our business activities, and enriching our local and global communities, are essential responsibilities to meet our strategic objectives, and the basis for our sustainable growth. Mercy Ships does incredible work helping communities in need and we are proud to support them on their vital missions in Africa and around the world,” Jack Chen added.

Striding forward with NTT Pro-Cycling Team

Since late 2018, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise has served as technology partner for South Africa’s NTT Pro Cycling team (formerly known as Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka). Through this multi-year sponsorship, which will extend into 2020, ALE provides connectivity and collaboration tools for one of the world’s leading cycling teams. 

Thanks to ALE, NTT Pro-Cycling Team’s team enjoys consistent wireless connectivity between riders and staff in all environments, as well as a comprehensive asset-tracking scheme, which has improved collaboration across the board. When elite athletes need technology to perform to their high standards, ALE is the reliable partner of choice.

2020: An Exciting Year Ahead

In its 101st year, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise will stride forwards with energy and confidence, reinforcing the implementation of vertical, cloud, and service strategy for top line growth. The company will pursue the execution of its organisational development programme and focus its resources on its top 30 markets, which account for 90% of business and 5% of overall company growth.

Digital Age Network — In 2020, ALE will continue to develop digital age technologies to support businesses with a network foundation that provides the services they need in the digital era. Such Service Defined Networks enable connectivity from the data centre to the access layer, allowing businesses to easily, automatically, and securely connect people, processes, applications, and objects needed to navigate digital business transformation.

Cofrex — Through a partnership with Cofrex, France’s national exhibition company, ALE will equip the French pavilion at the Expo 2020 exhibition in Dubai, in October. Based on the theme of “Lights and Light” the pavilion will be located in the expo’s mobility area and will strengthen France’s position of cultural, scientific and industrial leadership. As a technology partner, ALE will also outfit the 4,700 square meter event space with networking and communication solutions to ensure all visitors can connect their devices quickly and securely.

“The technology industry is a fast-paced, fast-moving sector that requires us to know how to reconcile flexibility and operational excellence. Our teams have the necessary technical knowledge combined with those of the various industries in which ALE operates. We are therefore able to interpret and anticipate market developments in order to offer increasingly innovative solutions to our clients, whose satisfaction remains at the heart of our preoccupations,” concluded Jack Chen.