What company was formed by the 2006 merger of Alcatel and Lucent Technologies?

The 2006 merger of Alcatel and Lucent Technologies formed Alcatel-Lucent.

French telecommunications-equipment maker Alcatel and U.S. company Lucent Technologies announced their combination in 2006. The transaction created a major global supplier of equipment for fixed-line, mobile, and broadband networks.

Lucent had been spun off from AT&T in 1996 and inherited the historic Bell Laboratories research organization. Alcatel, founded in France, had grown through telecommunications and networking businesses. Their merger combined Lucent’s North American presence and research expertise with Alcatel’s European base and international operations.

Nokia acquired Alcatel-Lucent in 2016, and the company was subsequently integrated into Nokia. That later acquisition is sometimes confused with the original merger, but the 2006 transaction created the Alcatel-Lucent name.