Alcatel Selected by SFR as a 3G Supplier.

Business/Technology Editors

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 21, 2001

Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA; NYSE: ALA) has been selected by SFR, the mobile network subsidary of the French operator Cegetel, for the supply of 3G UMTS network solutions.

The delivery will encompass a high capacity Evolium(TM) 3G mobile switching solution capable of managing up to one million subscribers per node.

Alcatel's Evolium(TM) UMTS/3G network solutions will enable SFR to offer new high-speed, high-quality mobile UMTS services such as chat, multiparty videoconferencing, Click2Dial, unified electronic mail, video streaming or MP3 Music downloading.

Alcatel has deployed for SFR its Evolium(TM) end-to-end solution including all the necessary radio and core network infrastructures, covering a major part of its current network.

Alcatel's solution perfectly meets mobile operators' requirements in the deployment of their new networks or in the optimization of their existing infrastructures. Furthermore, it ensures an efficient evolution towards 3G, minimizing the migration costs and protecting the operators' investment.

About Alcatel

Alcatel is one of the largest suppliers of mobile infrastructure worldwide. Alcatel's state of the art Evolium(TM) Solutions enclosed all the necessary radio and core network infrastructure elements as well as a complete set of revenue generating services targeting the end users and creating new profits from differentiation, in an end-to-end perspective.

By creating Evolium SAS, an Alcatel-Fujitsu company, Alcatel clearly reinforces its position in both mobile infrastructure and mobile Internet. Evolium SAS combines Alcatel's expertise in GSM, GPRS, as well as in ATM and IP technologies, with the advanced experience of Fujitsu as supplier of NTT DoCoMo. By the end of 2000, NTT DoCoMo will have twenty million i-Mode subscribers in Japan and will start the commercial operation of its 3G mobile communication service in the spring of 2001. Alcatel, which played a vital part in developing the mobile Internet market, in particular through the successful roll out of GPRS commercial networks worldwide, has today a timely UMTS offering.

Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA and NYSE: ALA) builds next generation networks, delivering integrated end-to-end voice and data networking solutions to established and new carriers, as well as enterprises and consumers worldwide. With 130,000 employees and sales of EURO 31 billion in 2000, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries. For more information, visit Alcatel on the Internet: http://www.alcatel.com/

About Cegetel

With a turnover of EUR 5,1 billion in 2000 and over 8,100 employees in the whole of France, Cegetel is the second largest telecommunications operator in France and the first challenger operator. This position is a result of a global operator strategy covering all telecom activities. In mobile telephony, SFR has more than 10 million subscribers and in fixed, their "7" service has 2,5 million subscriber lines. In the corporate telecommunications market, Cegetel offers its fixed telephony, mobility, Internet and data services to 30,000 corporate customers.