Alcatel had mentioned a few months ago that it planned to roll deep with US launches this year -- kind of hard to swallow, considering the non-presence they've had here for years and the difficulty for a new player to break into the market -- but sure enough, here we go with the first volley. Locus Telecom's prepaid O2 Wireless brand (naw, not that O2) has launched two low-end Alcatel sets two accompany its range of LGs and Motorolas, the E206a candybar and E227a flip. Both are sans camera or high-speed data of any sort; in fact, they putt along with mere dual-band GSM radios, and in the case of the E206a, a positively miniature 96 x 96 display. Not exactly a groundbreaking entrance into the market for Alcatel, but an entrance nonetheless. O2 says its service is for "students, seniors, and trendsetters," so if you're a trendsetter, go ahead and get your Alcatel on.

[Via MobileBurn]

Who knew there could be so much drama behind the scenes of the telecom infrastructure biz? The value of AT&T's original 3G buildout contracts totaled a staggering $2 billion, split three ways among the industry's heavyweights: $900 million to Ericsson, $700 million to Alcatel (now Alcatel-Lucent), and $400 million to Siemens (now Nokia Siemens). Obviously, it's a lucrative contract -- a contract that none of the signed parties would like to lose. A recent Financial Times report alleged that Ericsson had somehow managed to elbow its way past 50 percent of the total contract value, though, leaving the other two to fight over the scraps. The news left Alcatel-Lucent stock in the lurch -- a stock that has lost well over 30 percent since the start of the year -- so the company's fighting back, saying that it continues "to be a critical W-CDMA supplier to AT&T." Notice the lack of a quantifiable rebuttal there? It goes on to spout off about the fact that its "market share" has remained stable, even though that's really neither here nor there in the discussion about AT&T's contract specifically. We don't blame you for trying to save face, guys, but stay on point, will ya?

We're not exactly on top of the fashion world around here, so when the fashion and phone industries collide, it often makes for an awkward experience. Such is the case here, where luggage maker Mandarina Duck (who?) has teamed up with Carphone Warehouse and Alcatel to craft a line of branded handsets. Nothing special here -- quite the contrary, actually, with Bluetooth and an integrated MP3 player being the major talking points. Also included is an unusual bag clip charm, allowing the lucky owner to attach the phone to a carry-on (Mandarina Duck brand, of course). Get it starting next month in three horrifying shades -- Cherry Red, Purple, and Green -- exclusively from the Carphone Warehouse for a to-be-determined price.

[Via Pocket-lint.co.uk]

It seems mobile operators and now their handset suppliers are starting to take the environment into consideration -- three by our reckoning, and in only a couple months -- by doing favors for ol' mother nature. Alcatel, working in conjunction with Carbon Footprint has tweaked the packaging of its new device line and made it three times smaller. This is of course environmentally pleasant from an energy consumed perspective, reduced shipping costs, and in shrinking the piles on the desks at Engadget Mobile. Packaging is useful for shipping, but if you're picking up your mobile at a corporate store, the handset, a CD, and whatever cables are required really is enough. Thank you Alcatel, from the very bottoms of our hearts -- now if only somebody would work on the impossible-to-open-without-a-saw shrink packaging.

[Via textually.org]

Alcatel's latest slider is adding a hint of style and utility to what would be a relatively ho hum mobile otherwise, as the chrome and faux leather motif aren't half bad additions to catch a few eyes. The "smokey brown" handset sports a 220 x 176 resolution screen, weighs just under 100-grams, supports MP3 and AAC ringtones, and packs a microSD slot to complement the paltry 10MB of internal storage space. Additionally, you'll find an integrated music player, 1.3-megapixel camera, video recording capability, Bluetooth, and moreover, it should last you right around six hours if you're on the horn incessantly. Interestingly, the device can also be attached to a PC and turned into a webcam for video chats, and while there's no word yet of a US release, it will reportedly hit the European market sometime this summer.

[Via Electronista]

Just over a fortnight after deploying UMTS 900, Alcatel is now announcing that we Americans better get prepared for an absolute onslaught of phones right here in the US market. The 20 phone lineup is being dubbed a "spring lineup of fashion phones" that are reportedly quite the "chic and stylish" bunch. While there wasn't much detail on the specification end, we do know that the handsets will sport "soft-touch plastics, a leather-like finish, and design touches like dots of liquid metal." Of course, the ladies should appreciate the already-promised floral offerings, and those eying a low- to mid-range phone should find at least one option that suits their fancy. Among the barrage will be flavors that sport a 1.3-megapixel camera, 3.5-millimeter headphone jack, dedicated music controls, and support for 1GB TransFlash cards to boot. Currently, the outfit is already working to get its GSM handsets approved by AT&T, and the CDMA phones should be good to go on several "smaller regional carriers," hopefully by May of this year.

[Via PhysOrg.com]

Alcatel-Lucent has just landed a $6 billion deal with Verizon Wireless to upgrade the carrier's U.S. wireless network. Verizon Wireless is planning to expand its wireless data network with the equipment deal, scheduled to run a solid three years. So is this all going to come in the form of EV-DO Rev. A upgrades for the carrier? Nah -- Big Red will be investing in VoIP and video telephony services as the carrier transitions over time to an all-IP network and away from a circuit-based network. Alcatel-Lucent products such as digital microwave radios, optical cross-connects and bandwidth management devices are part of the $6 billion deal, and will include network support services from Alcatel-Lucent, too. How funny would it be to see a Verizon network engineer waiting on hold for an Alcatel-Lucent customer service rep?

We're still bellyaching over T-Mobile's unfortunate (but necessary) addition of 1700MHz to the world's WCDMA spectrum, but it seems four bands of UMTS -- 850, 1700, 1900, and 2100MHz -- wasn't enough to satisfy everyone's needs. Or the Isle of Man's, at least. The British territory is the first landmass in the world to get a trial UMTS / WCDMA deployment on the 900MHz band, thanks to Alcatel-Lucent and O2's Manx Telecom. Though there's already a 2100MHz 3G network alive and well in those parts, the companies are touting 900's advantages -- chiefly its increased building penetration and enhanced range, letting carriers get 3G to more places with fewer cells. Though the trial has run for a full six months, there appear to be no plans to make it live and accessible to customers at the moment; that's probably just as well, seeing how there's no retail equipment to take advantage.

Before you say "it's an OT-E220A or OT-E225A, clearly," take a closer look. Apart from this image on the first page of the user's manual, we can't find any reference to this rather curious looking watch; instead, the external photos, internal photos, ID label, and contents of the manual all point to a rather ordinary, garden-variety clamshell from Alcatel that's looking to navigate its way through the FCC. So is this watch nothing more than a concept placed on the cover of the manuals of boring phones to drive interest, or did someone in Alcatel's tech writing department make a huge mistake while pasting in photos? We wish we knew, because the mystery shrouding this timepiece is driving us nuts. If you look closely, you can make out some status lights on the band below the face, and it seems that the slot above the digits could be a speakerphone -- more practical than the Sony Ericsson MBW-100, and arguably more fashionable (though barely) than the so-called m300 Mobile Watch. Does someone from Alcatel care to clear up the confusion here?

We just love cellphone names with "Elle" in them, like this Elle Glamphone from the recent past. This newer Glamphone Nº3 slider above -- we guess -- is meant to denote a hot degree of perkiness maybe -- but we'll pass on that. This rather normal but "glammy" handset will be offered by Alcatel soon, with its curvy slider looks having been to the paint factory for all those off-primary colors --orange, pink, purple, white and yellow-green. Onboard is a 1.3 megapixel shooter (now the norm) and of course an unspecified color screen and MP3 player functionality. For the cheeky factor, you get a rather tauty necklace for hanging that Bluetooth headset around your neck. Plus, you get a steel charm on that beauty. Aww.

[Via Textually.org]

If showing your allegiance to ELLE Magazine ranks high on your list of priorities when cross-shopping phones, you may not be alone -- if Alcatel did any market research on this one, that is. We first told you about their "GlamPhone ELLE" last year, but at the time, we thought the uninspiring clamshell would only be finding its way to GSM 900 / 1800 networks; a new version sports 850 / 1900, though, and will be dropping stateside on September 1 in your choice of red or black for $180. Unfortunately, the phone's 3MB of internal memory, VGA shooter, and GPRS data leave a bad taste in our mouth that no mirrored display or free year of ELLE Magazine can overcome, but we're guessing they'll manage to push a few through in-mag advertising.

[Via paidContent]

Apparently looking to reach nooks and crannies of the market that haven't yet been fully saturated, a handful of recent handsets seem to be developing genders; Alcatel's the latest manufacturer to join the party with their "she mobile by Alcatel" OT-635a clamshell. We're not sure whether "she mobile" is a single model or a new series of phones, but for the sake of tech-savvy women everywhere, we're hoping it's a series -- the glossy white 635a is a bit thin in the specs, featuring GSM 850 / 1900, a VGA cam, no external display, and seemingly no Bluetooth. Personally we'll pass, but then again, that's exactly what Alcatel wants the men of Engadget to do.

We don't talk much about Alcatels on this side of the pond, but that doesn't mean they aren't holding down the low to mid range, with a full 14 cellphones in their current lineup. Latest among them is the OT E260, a GSM 900/1800 no-frills slider that lacks a camera (gasp!). For its lowly market segment, the E260 is a looker, sporting a simple glossy black face and weighing in at a svelte 90 grams. Besides a straight-outta-2002 102 x 80 color screen, you'll get 16-channel polyphonic ringtones, and that's about it.

[Via Mobilewhack]