Sprint joins more than 190 member companies as first North American service provider in ng Connect Program

Paris - January 3, 2013 - Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) will be demonstrating 12 new cloud-based service concepts created by its ng Connect Program at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show, South Hall Booth 31412, showcasing new ideas aimed at stimulating application innovation as consumers seek ever more exciting experiences from connected devices like smartphones and tablets. 

The ng Connect Program - founded by Alcatel-Lucent - is a multi-industry 'ecosystem' dedicated to the creation of the next-generation user experience for connected consumers. The program is comprised of more than 190 member companies, of either Contributing or Associate membership levels, and including leading network, application and content providers and consumer electronics manufacturers. Among the most recent members to join the ng Connect ecosystem is Sprint, the first North America service provider to become part of the program. 

Service concepts demonstrated at CES 2013 include:

•         Interactive digital signage platforms featuring cloud-based services for public venues and retailers.

•         Cloud-connected tables serving advertising, entertainment, and media in transitional waiting spaces such as airports and train stations.

•         Energy management applications to enable utilities to offer customers a customized service that monitors and adjusts high-consumption home appliances without losing comfort or convenience.

•         Connected service vehicle featuring a Ford Transit van equipped with broadband technologies and cloud-based applications connecting mobile workers.

•         Connected health and wellness cloud-based services that bridge the gap between consumer personalized health and wellness programs and professional, secure telehealth services.

•         Cloud-based learning platforms that empower teachers, while engaging students in a 21st century learning environment, as well as enterprise learning.

•         Communications Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that make application development easy and quickly without having to delve into the underlying IMS technology.

•         An open standards-based public safety service concept that leverages commercial offerings for enhanced capabilities, such as vehicle tracking and surveillance, and significantly lower costs.

Alcatel-Lucent products featured in the demos include: CloudBand™, Digital Media Store, Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON), IMS, 4G LTE, New Conversation APIs, and Velocix.

New members of ng Connect

New members to the ng Connect program represent a wide range of industries and business, including a major North American service provider, a utility and a host of applications developers, including:

•         Sprint - www.sprint.com

•         Apptricity - www.apptricity.com

•         Eclipse Identity Recognition Corporation - www.eclipseir.com

•         Electric Power Board of Chattanooga (EPB) - www.epb.net

•         NewAer - www.newaer.com

•         Scarlet Strategic - www.scarletstrategic.com

•         Teldat - www.teldat.com

•         Trimble's ThingMagic  -- www.thingmagic.com

•         Vitalae Corporate Services - www.vitalaecs.com

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Commenting on ng Connect overall:

Jason Collins, VP, Emerging Technology & Innovation for Alcatel-Lucent, said: "The next generation ecosystem goes beyond traditional players - it also includes innovators in media, entertainment, consumer electronics and other sectors. The ng Connect Program brings together all these kinds of companies to overcome the technical and business barriers preventing service providers from mass deployment of the services their customers want.

Commenting on Sprint joining the ecosystem:

Von McConnell, Director, Innovation and Advanced Labs, Sprint said: "Sprint has demonstrated a strong commitment to collaboration with start-ups, venture capitalists, trade organizations and wireless business partners to drive innovation.  In 2012, we announced the Sprint Technology Development & Strategy team that is dedicated to seeking out and directly engaging start-ups and innovators working on emerging products, services and technology from around the globe. We see our involvement with the ng Connect program as another way to collaborate with start-ups to help them to not only develop, but also extend the reach of their products.



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