Alcatel Lucent signs Westcon

Telephony vendor picks Westcon to be its data distributor

Alcatel-Lucent has plugged a gaping hole in its UK coverage by appointing Westcon Group to carry its data products.

The partnership will initially be activated in France, but Westcon will begin shipping Alcatel-Lucent’s data products in the UK “shortly thereafter”, according to the two companies.

The UK agreement will cover the full range of Alcatel-Lucent’s enterprise portfolio of data products. Westcon will also provide UK resellers with support resources and product specialists.

Barry Shakespeare, executive vice president of Westcon Group Europe, said in a statement: "This agreement presents some very compelling opportunities for both companies. Given our current European presence, we will be in a position to bring Alcatel-Lucent products to the European reseller community as part of a complete Enterprise convergence offering.

“In the UK this gives us the opportunity to expand our data offering and support the channel through our dedicated programme infrastructure.”

Graeme Allan, country manager for Alcatel-Lucent enterprise activities in UK and Ireland, stated: “Westcon's leading position in the networking arena meant it was the ideal partner for the distribution of our data networking solutions.

"Its vast customer base and relevant expertise, coupled with our best-of-breed IP technology, should see this partnership prove highly successful. We've been significantly increasing our data market share during 2006 and we expect the distribution deal with Westcon to add further fuel to this growth.”