Orlando — At the 117th annual International Association of Chief of Police Conference (IACP) being held in Orlando Florida (23-27 Oct. 2010), Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) announced that they are leading the way toward the establishment of a nationwide US public safety broadband network. The company is the first technology partner to go live at Long Term Evolution (LTE) emergency communications demonstration network in Boulder, CO, which is being managed by the Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) program, which was established by the US Department of Commerce.

LTE helps increase the speed and precision of the decision-making process for first responders, shaving seconds and minutes off of their response time in life-threatening situations. Approximately two million first responders in the US will ultimately benefit from this technology.

The PSCR program is a partnership of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Law Enforcement Standards Office and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). The PSCR provides objective technical support—research, development, testing and evaluation—in order to foster nationwide public safety communications interoperability. Alcatel-Lucent was the first public safety technology partner to formally join the PSCR demonstration project in September 2010 and provided a complete end-to-end LTE solution.

“The demonstration network developed by the joint NIST-NTIA Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) program is an important part of the strategy for a nationwide interoperable Public Safety Broadband network in 700 MHz. Here in the Boulder area, we will provide a common field environment for manufacturers, carriers, and public safety agencies to test and evaluate advanced broadband communications equipment and software tailored specifically to the needs of emergency first responders.” explained Derek Orr, Program Manager, NIST/OLES, Public Safety Communications.

“We’re excited and honored to be the very first technology partner at the PSCR lab here in Boulder. This demonstration network is a crucial building block for public safety as first responders can now see that the dream of a national broadband network is becoming a reality, said Morgan Wright, Vice President, Global Public Safety Segment at Alcatel-Lucent. “This is further proof of the commitment Alcatel-Lucent has to providing the best technology in support of the public safety mission.”

Wireless broadband is essential for addressing mission-critical needs requiring high data throughput for applications such as video surveillance, automated vehicle license plate recognition, biometric identification, mobile crime scene units and mobile incident command, geospatial information systems, automated vehicle location and more.

Alcatel-Lucent is making rapid strides in making LTE a reality for public safety applications having achieved a series of industry firsts in this space. Most recently the company – in cooperation with the Alexandria Police Department — conducted a live demonstration of data capabilities for first responders using the LTE Public Safety Broadband (PSBB) spectrum. This was the first live application of PSBB radio spectrum in the United States. See the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3HYsOhXxgk

Having been selected so far by seven customers for commercial deployments, including two of the world’s largest service providers, and being involved in more than 50 customer trials, Alcatel-Lucent has established a clear leadership position in Long Term Evolution (LTE). Our trial and contract awards span all regions of the globe.

More information on Alcatel-Lucent’s end-to-end LTE solution: http://lte.alcatel-lucent.com/

More information on Alcatel-Lucent’s public safety solution: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/publicsafety/

About Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) is the trusted transformation partner of service providers, enterprises, strategic industries such as defense, energy, healthcare, transportation, 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 and optics 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 15.2 billion in 2009 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, read the latest posts on the Alcatel-Lucent blog http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/blog and follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Alcatel_Lucent.