ECI Inks Deal With EDS

PETAH TIKVA, Israel -- ECI Telecom Ltd. (NASDAQ/NM symbol: ECIL) announced today the signing of a five-year agreement to receive Outsourcing Services from EDS Israel, a part of the Worldwide EDS Group. The total sum of the agreement is approximately 80 Million US Dollars. EDS Israel will handle all the activities of ECI-IT, the company responsible for the operation and development of the entire information system for ECI Telecom Ltd. According to the agreement signed between the parties, EDS Israel will operate the company and supply ECI Telecom with all maintenance, support and development in this area in the future. ECI-IT today employs approximately 190 employees, 60 of whom are company employees; the rest are sub-contractors and external suppliers' employees. ECI Telecoms' COO, Eitan Tzur, says that "Transferring ECI Telecoms' activity in the field of Information Systems to EDS Israel, is expected to bring about substantial savings in ECI Telecoms' costs". "We chose EDS Israel, in light of the strong experience that this company has acquired in the field of outsourcing to large companies. This step follows other efficiency steps that ECI has undertaken during 2001", says Tzur.ECI Telecom Ltd.