Alcatel Teams up with Eurosport for New Media Coverage

Alcatel (www.alcatel.com) has signed an agreement with Eurosport, a leading producer and distributor of sports-related contents and programming. Thanks to this agreement, Eurosport will contribute to Alcatel's turnkey new media enablement activities by supplying a wide variety of expertise and professional services, focused on live sporting events.

Beyond traditional TV broadcasting, broadband Internet and mobile networks are set to become attractive content distribution vehicles to extend the reach and impact of major sports events -- enlarging the experience of fans and creating new value for rights holders, content owners and service providers.

The unique combination of Alcatel's "triple play" service creation and delivery expertise and Eurosport's production capabilities will benefit sports enthusiasts around the world by allowing them to access the excitement of live sports events through mobile phones and broadband Internet.

As an initial example of this cooperation, Alcatel - the official New Media Provider of the 32ND America's Cup - designed and developed an America's Cup new media service portfolio that includes Virtual TV and Live Sailing, two innovative new services for viewing this exciting sailing race. These services were launched during the recent Louis Vuitton Acts 4&5 in Valencia (Spain).

Looking forward, Alcatel and Eurosport have agreed to cooperate on the evolution of the Virtual TV and Live Sailing services and the development of additional new media services, including interactive games.

"This agreement between two best-in-breed companies is a very exciting initiative," said Etienne Fouques, President of Alcatel's mobile communications activities. "It reinforces Alcatel's turnkey new media solution for covering major sporting events. We are confident that this agreement will benefit sporting enthusiasts all over the world, as well as event organizers, the participating teams and all the key stakeholders involved in the success of a sporting event."

"We are very proud to have concluded this agreement with Alcatel. Eurosport's know-how will help enable sports enthusiasts to more enjoyably follow live events via their mobile handsets or the Internet," said Laurent-Eric Le Lay, Eurosport's Managing Director of Broadcast. "This truly is a very exciting initiative."