ADSL: Alcatel Unveils Ground-breaking Speed Touch ADSL Modem Family At CeBIT 99 - Product Announcement

EDGE, On & About AT&T, March 22, 1999

Alcatel, the world's leading ADSL (Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line) vendor,(a) launched its new Speed Touch family of ADSL modems -- the most comprehensive and fully-featured range of next-generation modems available. Internet applications are demanding ever-increasing speeds, but traditional modem technologies have reached their practical limits.

The Alcatel Speed Touch ADSL modem family overcomes all such limitations, offering data rates up to 200 times faster than a conventional 56 kbps modem; 8 Mbps downstream to a computer and 1 Mbps upstream from the computer is possible with ADSL. Moreover, Speed Touch is designed around the Alcatel DynaMite chipset -- used by the vast majority of operators in their networks, so guaranteeing users the best possible performance. Introducing the new product family, Alcatel's Martin de Prycker, President of the Internet Product Division, commented: "The arrival of Alcatel's Speed Touch modem range changes the course of modem history. ADSL enables you to surf the Web and make phone calls with a single line, therefore the Internet connection can stay 'always on.' Imagine the benefits -- when you walk up to your PC, you can begin surfing right away, personalised information services are always updated and new emails are there waiting for you." The Speed Touch range comprises: Alcatel Speed Touch Home supports up to eight PCs to be connected to the Internet via a single ADSL line. It connects to the PC via the LAN interface (Ethernet or ATMF). Alcatel Speed Touch PC is an internal modem -- the best solution for integrating ADSL into a PC for a single host or to build a gateway to connect a network to an ADSL line. It plugs into any PC with a PCI bus. An installation software "wizard" helps turn the PC into a broadband Internet access device. Alcatel Speed Touch USB is targeted at the single host environment and is the easiest device to get connected to the Internet via ADSL -- the USB (Universal Serial Bus) port is becoming the most popular and widespread interface to the PC. This device is also the solution for laptops, as most have an integral USB port. In addition, it provides an integrated supply, so no external power feed is needed. Alcatel Speed Touch Office is the solution for delivering ADSL connection to SOHO/branch offices. It offers everything users expect from today's routers, including firewall, tunnelling and DES encryption, plus SNMP support for centralised network management. Speed Touch ADSL modems may be used in "always on" mode where the connection, once established, remains in place regardless of the status of the PC. Alternatively, it may be used in the more familiar "dial-up" mode, connecting to a service provider through the standard dial-up networking interface. Alcatel holds over 35% of the world ADSL market. It has delivered and installed its ADSL equipment at Singapore Telecom, PT Telecom of Indonesia, the US operators Ameritech, BellSouth, Pacific Bell and SouthWestern Bell, Telia in Sweden, BT, Bell Canada, Belgacom, Telefonica in Spain, France Telecom, Telecom Italia plus successful implementations in ADSL networks in China, Korea, Japan and Denmark. (a) Ryan Hankin Kent, a leading US-based telecommunications market research firm, January 1999. ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) technology enables an existing copper pair to carry several megabytes' data plus a separate voice line. Alcatel builds next generation networks, delivering integrated end-to-end voice and data communications solutions to established and new carriers, as well as enterprises and consumers worldwide. With 120,000 employees and sales of EURO 21.3 billion ($25.0 billion), Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries. FMI: http:/www.alcatel.com.