BT, Cisco, Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia and Siemens Form RosettaNet Telecommunications Industry Council.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SANTA ANA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 10, 2003

Leading Global Telecommunications Suppliers and Operators Join Forces

to Standardize Key E-Business Processes Using RosettaNet

RosettaNet, the technology industry's leading e-business standards consortium, today announced the formation of a Telecommunications Industry (TC) Council. BT, Cisco, Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia and Siemens are among the first major industry players to join as founding member companies with the goal of promoting RosettaNet to streamline the exchange of information throughout the global telecommunications trading network.

The TC Council, which is comprised of global network operators and equipment suppliers, will take a leadership role in driving adoption of the standard within the telecommunications industry sector and related supply chain ecosystems. Building on the past standards integration success realized by the high tech industry, the TC Council is slated to work closely with established RosettaNet Supply Chain Managing Boards to support development activities while also engaging in implementation program initiatives and deployment projects.

"Over the past few years, telecommunications companies have been heavily involved in RosettaNet as a result of the synergies that exist between the technology and telecommunications industries, including their shared supply networks," said Jennifer Hamilton, CEO of RosettaNet. "Our goal in establishing a formal Telecommunications Industry Council is to ensure more cohesive relationships between key players in the respective industry supply chains. On behalf of RosettaNet and the greater business community, we look forward to the extended collaboration, leadership and expertise that this esteemed group will bring."

In forming the TC Council, leaders in the telecommunications industry have acknowledged that the RosettaNet model addresses many of the business process issues facing companies today. For example, the acceleration of product lifecycles is impacting business-to-business communication between trading partners more than ever before. Adoption of RosettaNet can, in effect, build-in critical success factors by helping to streamline communications linkages between suppliers and customers, including real-time data exchanges in the areas of design, product information, forecast, order and inventory management and logistics.

Adding to the intricacies of the telecommunications supply network, telecom products themselves are becoming increasingly complex as equipment is being designed at a sub-component level and produced by contract manufacturers, a scenario that requires real-time collaboration between trading partners during engineering development and manufacturing processes. Similarly, the coordination of outsourced manufacturing dictates that forecast, order and inventory management requirements be closely managed to synchronize with demand of product for market introduction, ongoing delivery of service/support and end of life phases.

"The supply chain of the telecommunications industry extends from semiconductor fabricators, through outsourced manufacturers to original equipment designers, and ultimately, on to service providers that rely on industry solutions to enable new product offerings," said Karen Peterson, vice president and research director, Gartner, Inc. "With a supply chain of this breadth and complexity, accurate and timely communication between suppliers and customers is mandatory to align engineering and manufacturing processes with product-based service launches. The adoption of e-business standards will enable enterprises in the telecommunications industry to do this quicker and at a lower cost than developing one off integration strategies."

Leading the RosettaNet Telecommunications Industry Council effort is Stefan Langkamp of Siemens Information and Communication Networks (ICN), who has been named chairman and spokesperson. "Members of the TC Council share a strong, common vision around RosettaNet's proven e-business process standards and their ability to transcend industries," said Langkamp. "The future collaboration by this group will serve to enhance system-to-system integration within the telecom sector, thereby creating opportunities for automation and extreme operational efficiencies at any given point in the value chain."

It is expected that RosettaNet's TC Council will grow to include additional founding member companies representing the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific regions over the next several months. Currently, active discussions are underway with prospective manufacturer and operators candidates, including Vodafone, one of the world's largest mobile telecommunications network companies.

The TC Council is the fifth industry body to be formed since RosettaNet was formally launched in 1998 by a group of leading Information Technology (IT) firms. Leading Electronic Components (EC) manufacturers subsequently joined together to form the EC Board in August 1999. RosettaNet added a Semiconductor Manufacturing (SM) Board in October 2000 and a Solution Provider (SP) Board in June 2001 to support the growing needs in the industry.

For more information on RosettaNet's Telecommunications Industry Council, please contact Donald Tsusaki, Executive Council Director, at [phone], or e-mail [e-mail].

About RosettaNet

RosettaNet is a non-profit consortium dedicated to the collaborative development and rapid deployment of open internet-based business standards that align processes within the global technology trading networks. More than 500 companies, representing over $1 trillion in annual information technology, electronic components and semiconductor manufacturing revenues, currently participate in RosettaNet's standards development, strategy and implementation activities. Information on the consortium's worldwide activities in the Americas, Europe and Asia, and a complete list of partner companies, is available at www.rosettanet.org. RosettaNet is a subsidiary of the Uniform Code Council, Inc. (UCC).

About BT

BT is one of the world's leading providers of telecommunications services and one of the largest private sector companies in Europe. Its principal activities include local, long distance and international telecommunications services, Internet and broadband services and IT solutions. In the UK, BT serves more than 28 million exchange lines as well as providing network services to other licensed operators. For more information, visit www.btplc.com.

About Cisco

For more information, visit www.cisco.com.

About Deutsche Telekom

Deutsche Telekom is Europe's largest communications company and one of the largest communications carriers worldwide based on 2002 revenues of 53.7 billion Euro. The company is active in four key growth segments of the global telecommunications market: mobile communications, network access services, consumer Internet services and integrated IT and telecommunications solutions. Through T-Mobile, Deutsche Telekom's mobile telephony subsidiary, and through other majority and minority shareholdings, Deutsche Telekom served by year end 2002 worldwide almost 82 million mobile telephony customers worldwide. In 2001, Deutsche Telekom completed the acquisition of U.S. mobile telephony companies VoiceStream Wireless and Powertel Inc., forming the first transatlantic wireless communications operator utilizing the GSM digital wireless technology standard. Deutsche Telekom offers its customers a complete range of fixed-line voice telephony products and services through more than 57 million access lines. The company is a leading provider of high-speed digital access lines, with currently more than 3.4 million new asymmetric digital subscriber line (T-DSL) services sold and more than 23 million channels using the information transfer standard ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network). T-Online is one of Europe's second-largest Internet service providers with over 12.2 million subscribers. T-Systems is Europe's largest provider of comprehensive IT and telecommunication solution and services to business customers in more than 20 countries. For more information, visit www.telekom.de/international.

About Ericsson

Ericsson is shaping the future of Mobile and Broadband Internet communications through its continuous technology leadership. Providing innovative solutions in more than 140 countries, Ericsson is helping to create the most powerful communication companies in the world. For more information, visit www.ericsson.com.

About Motorola

Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT) is a global leader in wireless, automotive and broadband communications. Sales in 2002 were $27.3 billion. Motorola is a global corporate citizen dedicated to ethical business practices and pioneering important innovations that make things smarter and life better, honored traditions that began when the company was founded 75 years ago this year. For more information, please visit www.motorola.com.

About Nokia

Nokia is the world leader in mobile communications. Backed by its experience, innovation, user-friendliness and secure solutions, the company has become the leading supplier of mobile phones and a leading supplier of mobile, fixed broadband and IP networks. By adding mobility to the Internet Nokia creates new opportunities for companies and further enriches the daily lives of people. Nokia is a broadly held company with listings on six major exchanges. For more information, visit www.nokia.com.

About Siemens

Siemens (Berlin and Munich) is a global powerhouse in electrical engineering and electronics. The company has more than 423,000 employees working to develop and manufacture products, design and install complex systems and projects, and tailor a wide range of services for individual requirements. Siemens provides innovative technologies and comprehensive know-how to benefit customers in more than 190 countries. Founded more than 150 years ago, the company is active in the areas of Information and Communications, Automation and Control, Power, Transportation, Medical, and Lighting. In fiscal 2002 (ended September 30), Siemens had sales of EUR 84 billion (U.S. GAAP) and net income of EUR 2.597 billion (U.S. GAAP). For more information, visit www.siemens.com.