Paris and London, January 4, 2012 - Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today announced its selection by Saudi Telecom Company (STC), the leading service provider in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to launch the first 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) wireless network in the country, bringing subscribers true broadband services to their mobile devices.

The introduction of LTE technology will give STC’s mobile broadband subscribers access to a huge number of data applications on their smart phones, tablets and laptops.  The increased speeds and quality of experience will allow activities such as the download and transfer of high definition video and real-time gaming, on the move.

As a key innovator, STC will be the first in the region to launch major commercial LTE services to cover 11 key cities in Saudi Arabia as first phase to provide enhanced mobile broadband services using 4G LTE technology, with dramatic improvements anticipated in the speed and quality of connections. Alcatel-Lucent was selected to support STC’s LTE network deployment in the Northern Region of the Kingdom, following a successful trial of the technology. Alcatel-Lucent, through the ngConnect Program, is also helping STC build an ecosystem of leading companies to provide content, applications and innovative services to meet needs of subscribers in Saudi Arabia.

Dr. Zeyad Al-Etaibi, CTO of STC Group said: “STC is committed to delivering innovative services to its subscribers and together with Alcatel-Lucent we are confident we will enrich our customers’ lives by offering a variety of services for consumers and businesses. Our customers will enjoy the benefits of 4G LTE through an enhanced mobile experience that is unmatched in the industry.”

Abdulrahman Al-Azzam, Country Senior Officer of Alcatel-Lucent in Saudi Arabia said: “This is a big win for Alcatel-Lucent in the Saudi market and Alcatel-Lucent is committed to providing STC with the most advanced LTE solution addressing the need to scale and manage network capacity to meet increasing bandwidth demands while delivering differentiated, revenue-generating services at a lower overall cost”.  He also added: “this LTE deal with STC includes managed services of all sites Alcatel-Lucent will deploy”.