With sales of EURO 12.3 billion in 2004, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries. 2004 sales were distributed geographically as follows: Western Europe 42%, Other Europe 7%, USA 15%, Asia 15% and Rest of World 21%. Income is derived from wire-line and wireless carriers as well as from private customers, including enterprises, satellite operators, cable service providers, transport companies, utilities, the oil and gas sector, government institutions and many more.


Alcatel is organized along markets with three business groups: the Fixed Communications Group, the Mobile Communications Group and the Private Communications Group.

The Fixed Communications Group is comprised of access, data/IP, NGN, Voice, Voice over IP, and optics, including network and service management, applied applications and professional services. Alcatel is the world DSL leader, with a nearly 38% cumulative market share, having shipped over 49 million DSL lines. A pioneer in digital switching, Alcatel has the world's largest digital line installed base, representing 18% of the world's installed base. Alcatel is number 1 in optical networking with 15% market share and number 2 in multiservice wide area networks representing 23% of the market. The company has also become a leading supplier of TV and Video over DSL solutions. With this market strength, Alcatel is well positioned to bring together value added solutions that offer carriers multimedia content, bringing together parties from the content provider side, the terminal and head-end side as well as the software applications side.

By partnering with more than 300 mobile operators, Alcatel delivers innovative, revenue-rich, cost-effective, multi-standard mobile infrastructure, applications and services to a new generation of broadband users. In mobile communications, since 2000 Alcatel has grown its GSM/GPRS/EDGE market share by nearly one third, so that by 2003 Alcatel claimed 12% of this world-wide market. Alcatel is the No 1 choice of GSM Greenfield operators, with 25% market share. Through its alliance with Fujitsu, a world-leader UMTS mobile radio and core network solutions, and their ongoing partnering with DoCoMo engineering, Alcatel is uniquely positioned in the roll-out of 3G. Alcatel is a leader in Intelligent Network applications, messaging and payment solutions for the mobile environment. The handset joint venture with TCL Mobile, in which Alcatel held a 45% share, completes its full range of mobile solutions.

For its part, the Private Communications Group enables enterprise and institutional customers in many industries and public sectors to gain operational efficiencies, improve security, and enhance service delivery. The Group is responsible for almost one third of Alcatel's total revenues. In the Space sector, where Alcatel has long enjoyed the N° 1 position in telecommunications satellites, we agreed to join forces with Finmeccanica in June 2004 to create the undisputed leader in the European satellite industry. In rail, Alcatel strengthened its leadership positions in electronic interlocking, main line and metro CBTC train control thanks to a host of new contracts, notably in Turkey, Spain and London. Meanwhile, Alcatel continues to lead the IP PBX market in Western Europe and remains, through Genesys, the world leading provider of customer interaction solutions. Finally, Alcatel's integration and services activities, which cover everything from consulting to turnkey design and build to full outsourcing, has grown substantially and today represents 15% of Alcatel sales.