Alcatel-Lucent targets auto, healthcare industries with NG Connect program

As Alcatel-Lucent struggles to regain its financial footing, the company is focusing on its new strategy that will combine its capabilities of the network environment with creative services of the Web.
An example of how the company plans to make the transition from the old to the new as it unveils its NG Connect Program, which is geared to take advantage of future broadband networks such as 4G Long-Term Evolution.
Rather than dictate what services are offered to various segments of the enterprise, the program is looking to bring device manufactures, infrastructure vendors and application and software developers together to focus on the individual communication needs of the automotive and healthcare industries, consumer media and entertainment, digital signage and computing experience.
The program will bring the benefits of seamless broadband experience to mobile phones, computers, cars, gaming systems and more, enabling consumers to stream more content, run more sophisticated applications and communicate in the most popular formats of today and in the future.
In December, Alcatel-Lucent unveiled a new business strategy that is geared to return the telecommunications equipment maker back to profitability.
“NG Connect embodies part of that strategy,” said Derek Kuhn, the company’s VP of Emerging Technology and Media. “We are taking a different approach. We are thinking out of the box.”
With NG Connect, Kuhn said the process invites each of these segments of the enterprise to participate in how to best meet their communication needs.
“We want to bring them into the discussion of what this type of connectivity can bring,” he said. “We want to deliver a better consumer and enterprise experience.”
For example, the automotive sector is interested in connecting automobiles to new services that will be offered through future broadband networks. The program envisions future cars that are an Internet terminal where owners can get real-time access to the latest applications, data and content for their vehicles.
“LTE complements our own vision of enabling cars that dynamically connect to the Internet cloud, to consumer devices and to one another,” Dan Dodge, CEO of QNX Software Systems, said in a statement.
QNX has joined Alcatel-Lucent in the program.
Another example is setting up networks for healthcare facilities where patients can be monitored using a combination of mobile handsets and televisions.
The group is also focusing on advertising through image recognition with the use of mobile devices and products for sale. For example, a person interested in a particular DVD could get details of the product on their mobile phone while shopping.
“The whole idea is taking content that might be of interest to the user,” Kuhn said.
Kuhn said his division has been working on NG Connect for the past year and includes partnerships with numerous companies such as Motorola Inc., 4DK Technologies, Inc., FISHLABS, Connect2Media, TuneWiki and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
In its efforts to move forward with the program, Alcatel-Lucent has created testing laboratories in New Jersey, Dallas, and Ottawa.
Kuhn said the wireless providers are interested in the program because it is geared to optimize network technology that carriers spend millions of dollars to develop and deploy.
Kuhn said Alcatel-Lucent demonstrated numerous end-to-end next generation broadband applications during this week’s Mobile World Congress.
The French-American company has decided to shift its focus because it has posted eight straight quarters with losses since the company was formed in 2006 with the merger of Alcatel SA and Lucent Technologies Inc. The plan also includes reducing its workforce and contract workers and cutting spending in areas such as WiMAX.
The company reported its fourth quarter earlier this month and posted losses of $6.7 billion for 2008. For the fourth quarter, the company reported a loss of $5 billion. The company took a one-time charge of $5 billion and also had to account for a charge of $1.7 billion for its pension. Accounting for a majority of the one-time charge was good will the company paid for the $11 billion merger.
The company has also suffered internal clashes, changes in leadership and stiff competition in the market. Verwaayen was brought in to lead the company in September.
Verwaayen is confident the company can turn around its fortunes with its new strategy.
“We are right on track,” he said. ” In some places we have done better. . We know now how to make this work.”
Becky Watson, an industry analyst for Frost and Sullivan, said Alcatel-Lucent can rebound if it follows through on its new strategy.
“They are a big company,” she said. “It is hard to turn around the ship all at once.”