Brazil's Telesp Celular Signs Contracts For US$14 Million With Lucent Technologies For Digital CDMA Overlay Of Wireless Network in Sorocaba.

SAO PAULO, Brazil--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 24, 1999--

Project extends the presence of Lucent's CDMA systems in the

Telesp Celular network to 59 municipalities in the State of Sao

Paulo, a geographic area with 10 million inhabitants 

Lucent Technologies today announced it has signed a US$14 million contract with Telesp Celular for a digital overlay of the existing analog cellular system in the Sorocaba region of the state of Sao Paulo, an area with a population of 750,000. The digital system is based on code division multiple access (CDMA).

With this contract, Lucent extends its participation in the digitalization and expansion of the Telesp Celular network to an extensive area covering 59 municipalities in the state of Sao Paulo, a 10-million person geographic area. Lucent CDMA systems deployed in the Telesp Celular network now run from Porto Primavera in the north, through Mato Grosso do Sul and to Baixada Santista in the south. To date, Lucent has installed more than 800 cell sites in the Telesp Celular network.

Under the terms of this contract, Lucent will provide Mobile Switching Centers using the 5ESS(R) switching platform, and approximately 50 Autoplex(R) System 1000 Compact Minicells, as well as technical expertise and support services. The digital cell sites for this project will be manufactured at the Lucent manufacturing facility in Campinas, Brazil.

"This project increases our presence with Telesp Celular in more than 59 municipalities," said Jose Roberto Campos, vice president of Lucent Technologies in Brazil. "We are thrilled to continue to work hand in hand with this customer as they expand their network to offer superior quality cellular services throughout the state of Sao Paulo."

Lucent already has deployed CDMA systems for Telesp Celular in the cities of Bauru, Marilia and Presidente Prudente, and is currently completing CDMA overlay of existing systems and expanding the networks in the metropolitan area of Sao Paulo and other municipalities in the interior of the state.

Lucent's 5ESS Switch is a large-scale, software-based digital switching system that delivers any media from one platform. This capability allows service providers to offer any service -- local, long distance, voice, data, or video -- over any network -- wireless or wireline. Its new 7R/E Packet Driver provides a smooth gateway to packet networks, allowing service providers to merge their voice and data networks as one. The 5ESS Switch currently serves more than 104 million lines and 48 million trunks from four thousand host switches in more than 50 countries worldwide. The Autoplex System 1000 Series II cell sites will be equipped with digital radios using the cdmaOne technology. This wireless technology, based on the IS-95 CDMA standard, provides increased call capacity and enhanced call quality that is comparable to landline service.

Lucent Technologies is a leading provider of wireless infrastructure equipment utilizing all of the major interfaces available in the market today - AMPS, TDMA, CDMA and GSM. An industry leader in CDMA technology, Lucent has more than 160 CDMA networks either in commercial operation or under construction for network operators worldwide. Lucent's CDMA networks manage approximately 16 million calls around the world each day.

In the Caribbean and Latin America region, Lucent Technologies is building CDMA networks in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, El Salvador, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. In North America, Lucent is the leading provider of CDMA infrastructure equipment for the largest PCS network providers - PrimeCo Personal Communications, Sprint PCS and others - and for cellular carriers such as GTE, AirTouch, Bell Atlantic Mobile and Ameritech Cellular Services.

Lucent Technologies supplies mobile and fixed wireless communications systems that offer global service providers standards-based solutions for serving the information needs of consumers and enterprises. The company designs, builds and delivers a wide range of public and private networks, communications systems and software, data networking systems, business telephone systems and microelectronics components. Bell Labs is the research and development arm of the company. Further information about Lucent Technologies is available on the worldwide web at http://www.lucent.com.

In the privatization of Telebras last year, Portugal Telecom, S.A. won the wireless region of Telesp Celular, covering the state of Sao Paulo, which is the largest cellular market in Brazil. The company currently manages a network of more than 2.4 million subscribers.