Alcatel-Lucent and Sequans to power IoT prototyping platform for Orange

Paris, France, June 12, 2015

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) and Sequans Communications S.A. (NYSE: SQNS) are to collaborate on enabling key technologies for the ‘Internet of Things’ by providing the ‘4G Kit for IoT’, a principal building block in the new Internet of Things prototyping platform launched yesterday by communications operator Orange in order to stimulate interest by the IoT market in 4G connectivity.

The 4G Kit for IoT, announced by Orange at the Futur-en-Seine event in Paris, will be powered by Sequans’ LTE chipset and technical implementation by Bell Labs, the industrial research arm of Alcatel-Lucent.

A limited series of 200 kits will be tested with innovation communities working on IoT projects as part of an effort to foster the creation of wirelessly connected objects, based on 4G and Orange’s network, to deliver novel services. Developers will be able to use the kit to make use of cloud services and mobility to design a new generation of IoT devices, taking full advantage of scalable resources such as remote computing, storage, and advanced services.

Initiated as an internal project by Bell Labs, the 4G kit for IoT is the result of a year of prototyping and experiments supervised by Bell Labs in which fabrication laboratories and start-ups were invited to test their ideas on Orange’s 4G network and Alcatel-Lucent’s test platforms. The feedback allowed the Bell Labs team to design a new platform.

As a result, the 4G Kit for IoT consists of Sequans’ LTE chipset incorporated into a three-band M.2 module for LTE bands 3, 7 and 20, supporting Orange’s LTE network. The module connects to a small form factor Olimex development board and includes plug-in antennas. This combination gives IoT and M2M device makers the opportunity to connect to Orange’s state-of-the-art 4G LTE network. As a result, the kit will help understanding of the Internet of Things’ contribution to network scalability, agility and latency, as well as its role in the creation of new services, generating vital insights into future cloud and 5G requirements in the process.

Commenting on the project, Jean-Luc Beylat, President of Bell Labs France, said: “Bringing together operators, infrastructure and device manufacturers, start-ups and ‘tinkerers’, this project has illustrated Alcatel-Lucent’s engagement in Open Innovation, which will lead the acceleration of IoT devices using 4G technology. By making LTE technology accessible to innovation communities, we can trigger a change in the way services are designed. With unprecedented access to cloud services, connected objects can create a new ecosystem of distributed advanced services that will shape the future cloud and 5G”.

Georges Karam, CEO of Sequans added: “We are pleased to collaborate with Alcatel-Lucent on this important initiative. We are committed to making LTE efficient and cost-effective for IoT and M2M devices and our IoT-optimized LTE chipsets demonstrate this. We are very excited about the potential of Orange’s 4G Kit for IoT to spur the development of many new IoT devices.”

ABOUT SEQUANS COMMUNICATIONS

Sequans Communications S.A. (NYSE: SQNS) is a 4G chipmaker and leading provider of single-mode LTE chipset solutions to wireless device manufacturers worldwide. Founded in 2003, Sequans has developed and delivered six generations of 4G technology and its chips are certified and shipping in 4G networks, both LTE and WiMAX, around the world. Today, Sequans offers two LTE product lines: StreamrichLTE™, optimized for feature-rich mobile computing and home/portable router devices, and StreamliteLTE™, optimized for M2M devices and other connected devices for the Internet of Things. Sequans is based in Paris, France with additional offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Israel, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, and China. Visit Sequans online at www.sequans.com; www.facebook.com/sequans; www.twitter.com/sequans