JCDecaux and Alcatel-Lucent join forces to speed up the roll-out of connected street furniture

PARIS, Sept. 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- JCDecaux SA (Euronext Paris: DEC), the number one outdoor advertising company worldwide, and Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) announce today that they are joining forces in the development of connected street furniture.

While the JCDecaux and Alcatel-Lucent teams have for years worked independently on connectivity, Alcatel-Lucent's tests have demonstrated the relevance of combining its small cells with the street furniture developed by JCDecaux to improve connectivity in the city.

The unique density and coverage of street furniture in city centres makes them an ideal medium to usher in the development of "smart city" policies and the creation of an ecosystem capable of further improving the quality of service provided to users and citizens. Easy to install and to get quickly up and running, small cells help increase mobile networks' density of coverage, boosting capacity in saturated areas and offering high-speed access for all.

The teams are now working together to optimise the aesthetic integration of small cells in street furniture in order to provide cities and telecom operators with a global solution that is in tune with the urban environment.

Jean-Charles Decaux, Chairman of the Executive Board and co-CEO of JCDecaux, said: "After various tests conducted in France and abroad, our collaboration with Alcatel-Lucent confirms our determination to provide urban areas with innovative and accessible services, building a true ecosystem for the greater benefit of mobile citizens. Rolling out a high-quality network has become one of the major strategic objectives in improving the appeal and competitiveness of cities, and we are pleased to work with the Alcatel-Lucent teams to increase our R&D efforts to design connected street furniture that is both functional and aesthetic. Through these efforts, we will showcase French expertise in building a Smart City."

Michel Combes, Chief Executive Officer of Alcatel-Lucent, added: "As leaders and innovators in our respective industries this pairing allows us to work together to build truly ultra broadband cities prepared to meet the ever growing communications demands of our mobile society. As companies that work daily within local communities around the world, we deeply appreciate the benefits that a connected society can bring -- forever changing the way we are able to interact with each other. However we also want to make sure we do this in a way that does not clutter or overly put a burden on our already stretched city resources. This requires that our two companies work together to deliver innovative and eloquent design solutions that boost our existing information infrastructure while keeping our urban landscapes uncluttered and making smart use of existing power resources."

ABOUT ALCATEL-LUCENT (EURONEXT PARIS AND NYSE: ALU)
We are at the forefront of global communications, providing products and innovations in IP and cloud networking, as well as ultra-broadband fixed and wireless access to service providers and their customers, and to enterprises and institutions throughout the world. Underpinning us in driving the industrial transformation from voice telephony to high-speed digital delivery of data, video and information is Bell Labs, an integral part of the Group and one of the world's foremost technology research institutes, responsible for countless breakthroughs that have shaped the networking and communications industry. Our innovations have resulted in our Group being recognized by Thomson Reuters as a Top 100 Global Innovator, as well as being named by MIT Technology Review as amongst 2012's Top 50 "World's Most Innovative Companies". We have also been recognized for innovation in sustainability, being named Industry Group Leader in the Technology Hardware & Equipment sector in the 2014 Dow Jones Sustainability Indices review, for making global communications more sustainable, affordable and accessible, all in pursuit of the Group's mission to realize the potential of a connected world.

With revenues of Euro 14.4 billion in 2013, Alcatel-Lucent is listed on the Paris and New York stock exchanges (Euronext and NYSE: ALU). The company is incorporated in France and headquartered in Paris.

For more information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com, read the latest posts on the Alcatel-Lucent blog http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/blog and follow the Company on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Alcatel_Lucent.