Lucent Technologies Signs US$145 Million in Contracts to Supply Optical Systems, Fiber Cable to Customers in China.

Business Editors

BEIJING--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 27, 2000

Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU) today announced that it has signed contracts worth a combined US$145 million to supply optical networking systems and fiber cable to two customers in China.

In an agreement worth more than US$80 million with CITIC Pacific Limited, Lucent will provide optical networking equipment for CITIC's nationwide backbone network project. The three-line backbone network will be 32,000 kilometers (about 20,000 miles) long and will connect millions of customers throughout China. It is scheduled to be operational in the third quarter of this year.

Under a US$65 million agreement with China's Guangdong Eastern FiberNet Company (GEFC), Lucent will provide optical networking systems and fiber cable products, which GEFC will use to build a next-generation broadband network in the Guangdong province. The network is expected to become operational by mid-2000.

Lucent's state-of-the-art optical networking systems will enable CITIC to dramatically increase the capacity of its backbone network; GEFC will offers its customers new services over the broadband network.

"We're very pleased to work with CITIC Pacific to build this advanced optical network," said Harry Bosco, group president of Lucent's optical networking group. "Lucent's expertise in optical networking and its unparalleled ability to provide end-to-end networking solutions are valuable assets to our customers. By taking advantage of these resources, our customers will be able to build next-generation networks that meet the needs of today and tomorrow."

"The contracts with GEFC represent a milestone in the strategic relationship between Lucent and GEFC and further demonstrate Lucent's leadership position in China's optical and fiber cable industry," said Mike Chan, chairman and president of Lucent Technologies (China) Co. Ltd.. "We are excited about our relationship with Guangdong's newest carrier and look forward to helping our customer build its provincial broadband network."

Lucent will provide both CITIC and GEFC with its WaveStar(TM) OLS 400G - an 80-channel dense wave division multiplexing (DWDM) system - and its WaveStar TDM 10G - a synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH) system capable of transmitting 10 gigabits of information per second across a single wavelength.

Lucent's DWDM systems increase a fiber's capacity by dividing light into multiple wavelengths - or colors - with each simultaneously carrying distinct streams of information. Lucent's SDH technology increases fiber capacity by increasing the speed of the laser (or the number of times a laser pulses on and off each second).

Lucent also will provide GEFC with its WaveStar(TM) ADM16/1 SDH equipment and integrated network management system. These systems will help GEFC build an advanced broadband network with increased network capacity and reliability.

Additionally, Lucent, as an exclusive fiber supplier, will provide GEFC with 6,000 km (about 3,700 miles) of TrueWave (R) RS (Reduced Slope)(TM) fiber for the provincial broadband network. This is the single largest fiber cable contract in dollar amount and km/miles in the telecommunications industry in China today.

Specifically designed for long-haul networks, TrueWave RS Fiber provides greater capacity, while maintaining high-quality transmission of voice, data and video communications. It is the ideal fiber to support DWDM systems at high bit-rate like 10 gigabits per second.

In addition, Lucent will supply CITIC with its ITM-SC Network Element management system and ITM-NM Network Management System.

Lucent Technologies (China) Co., Ltd. has seven regional offices, eight joint ventures and three wholly-owned companies, with more than 3,500 employees in China. Lucent China and its joint ventures manufacture a full range of telecommunications systems to serve the China market.

Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, N.J., designs, builds and delivers a wide range of public and private networks, communications systems and software, data networking systems, business telephone systems and microelectronic components. Bell Laboratories is the research and development arm of the company. Lucent Technologies operates in over 90 countries and is a world leader in the communications field. For more information on Lucent Technologies, visit its web site at http://www.lucent.com.