JCDecaux and Alcatel-Lucent join forces to speed up the roll-out of connected street furniture

Paris, 29 September 2014 – JCDecaux SA (Euronext Paris: DEC), the number one outdoor advertising company worldwide, and Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) announce today that they are joining forces in the development of connected street furniture.

While the JCDecaux and Alcatel-Lucent teams have for years worked independently on connectivity, Alcatel-Lucent's tests have demonstrated the relevance of combining its small cells with the street furniture developed by JCDecaux to improve connectivity in the city.

The unique density and coverage of street furniture in city centres makes them an ideal medium to usher in the development of "smart city" policies and the creation of an ecosystem capable of further improving the quality of service provided to users and citizens. Easy to install and to get quickly up and running, small cells help increase mobile networks' density of coverage, boosting capacity in saturated areas and offering high-speed access for all.

The teams are now working together to optimise the aesthetic integration of small cells in street furniture in order to provide cities and telecom operators with a global solution that is in tune with the urban environment.

Jean-Charles Decaux, Chairman of the Executive Board and co-CEO of JCDecaux, said: "After various tests conducted in France and abroad, our collaboration with Alcatel-Lucent confirms our determination to provide urban areas with innovative and accessible services, building a true ecosystem for the greater benefit of mobile citizens. Rolling out a high-quality network has become one of the major strategic objectives in improving the appeal and competitiveness of cities, and we are pleased to work with the Alcatel-Lucent teams to increase our R&D efforts to design connected street furniture that is both functional and aesthetic. Through these efforts, we will showcase French expertise in building a Smart City."

Michel Combes, Chief Executive Officer of Alcatel-Lucent, added: "As leaders and innovators in our respective industries this pairing allows us to work together to build truly ultra broadband cities prepared to meet the ever growing communications demands of our mobile society. As companies that work daily within local communities around the world, we deeply appreciate the benefits that a connected society can bring -- forever changing the way we are able to interact with each other. However we also want to make sure we do this in a way that does not clutter or overly put a burden on our already stretched city resources. This requires that our two companies work together to deliver innovative and eloquent design solutions that boost our existing information infrastructure while keeping our urban landscapes uncluttered and making smart use of existing power resources."