Alcatel Expands Digitel

PARIS -- Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA and NYSE: ALA), announced that it has been awarded a USD 100 million contract by Digital Telecommunications Philippines, Inc. (Digitel), a leading telecom operator in the Philippines, to increase the cellular mobile infrastructure capacity of Digitel's mobile subsidiary Sun Cellular to one million subscribers. It will provide them with the vital additional capacity to meet the growing demand for mobile voice and data services, primarily in the island of Luzon - the biggest island of the Philippines archipelago. The expanded network will be rolled out early 2004.

Under the terms of this contract, Alcatel will supply, install and commission its industry-leading Evolium? GSM/GPRS and EDGE-ready solution, including radio base stations and mobile switching equipment. In addition, there will be an extension and software upgrade of the existing Intelligent Network (IN) platform and of the charging gateway. The mobile infrastructure will also be equipped with Alcatel's low-to-medium capacity Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy (PDH) and high-capacity urban and long-haul Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) microwave radio systems, as well as data-aware Optical Multi-Service Node (OMSN) systems for metro applications.

Furthermore, Alcatel is providing an extension of its prepaid solution, installing its charging proxy that will increase the user capacity of Digitel's voice mail and short message services (SMS).

To manage the increasing complexity of Digitel's GSM/GPRS infrastructure, Alcatel will provide an Integrated Network Management Solution (INMS) for consolidated alarm and fault management. The Alcatel INMS solution based on Netcool, the leading service assurance solution from Micromuse, will enable the mobile operator to ensure maximum network efficiency as well as securing revenue.

The Philippines has witnessed a strong mobile subscriber-growth in the past few years. Market analysts forecast that the penetration of mobile subscribers on the total market will increase to 40 % within the next five years. Digitel's mobile services, under the Sun Cellular brand, has been offering subscribers cutting-edge services, including Short Message Services (SMS), Prepaid Mobile Charging (PMC), Voicemail, Cell Broadcast System (CBS) and Corporate Mobility Manager (CMM), since its launch end of March 2003.

Alcatel has become Digitel Mobile's trusted partner, having helped to build the operator's GSM/GPRS 1800 MHz network from scratch, going back to the award of the USD 200 million first contract in September 2001. "We are very pleased to continue our teamwork with Alcatel," declared Charles Lim, Chief Executive Officer of Digitel Mobile. "The Alcatel solution is ideal for the higher capacity we need in order to provide both voice and data services in the near future."

"We are very proud that Digitel Mobile has once again chosen us and continues to place its trust in our state-of-the-art solutions and services," added Marc Rouanne, Chief Operating Officer of Alcatel's mobile communications activities. "This latest expansion contract further consolidates Alcatel's leading position in South East Asia, where we deploy leading-edge GSM/GPRS solutions over almost all countries."

Alcatel SA