Alcatel and DiBcom cooperate for Unlimited Mobile TV

DiBcom is developing new chipsets compatible with DVB-H in the S-Band

Paris, April 25, 2006, Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA and NYSE: ALA) and DiBcom today announced that, in the context of Alcatel’s “Unlimited Mobile TV” project, the two companies have agreed on detailed cooperation plans to develop a new chipset. This new chipset will support advanced features for unprecedented quality of service and coverage on hybrid terrestrial and satellite architectures. Such capabilities are at the core of ongoing discussions for the evolution of the DVB-H broadcast Mobile TV standards. This evolution makes use of new spectrum in the S-band and improved DVBH-based signal processing techniques.

Thanks to the worldwide market leadership of DiBcom’s DIB7000-H chipset, the first and best available integrated circuit (IC) for DVB-H in the market, and the high performance RF features of DiBcom’s in-house tuner (DIB7070-H), DiBcom and Alcatel intend to further support the expected growth of Mobile TV in the coming years by creating the conditions for expanded capacity and superior quality of service.

This cooperation is part of the “Unlimited Mobile TV” project which the two companies, and other partners, have been preparing for several months and which has just been selected by the French Agency for Industrial Innovation (AII) for public support. This decision will enable the early availability of ubiquitous high-quality mobile TV service for the mass market.

The new chipset, which is intended to progressively integrate the new band characteristics and the enhanced features currently under discussion at the DVB Forum, will allow a smooth path for terminal vendors’ development and integration efforts in the new spectrum during 2007, while remaining fully compatible with DVB-H initial deployments in the UHF band. This cost-effective, fully compatible solution is one of the keys to making Mobile TV a high-quality, easy, and ubiquitous experience for consumers across Europe and worldwide.

Yannick Levy, CEO of DiBcom, declared: “Early IC availability is key to accelerating the advent of any Mobile TV broadcast solution. DiBcom is therefore glad to join forces with Alcatel and to leverage our unique expertise in leading-edge IC technology for broadcast Mobile TV in order to help create the right technical conditions for the boom of the Mobile TV market towards Unlimited Mobile TV. What’s more, this collaboration will reinforce our current leadership as chipset vendor for Mobile TV to leading terminal manufacturers worldwide.”

Olivier Coste, President of Alcatel’s mobile broadcast activities, added: “DiBcom’s endorsement of the S-Band profile for DVB-H is a strong signal for the Mobile TV industry, as they have proven their leading innovation capability in this domain. This important step will facilitate the development, by 2007, of a large number of terminals with DVB-H capacity both in UHF and S-Band, therefore providing a true unlimited Mobile TV experience to consumers.”

* The S-Band (2,170-2,200 MHz frequency range, satellite IMT2000 FDD European allocation) is a telecom frequency band associated with satellite usage. It is adjacent to the 3G/UMTS band and widely available across continents.


About Alcatel
Alcatel provides communications solutions to telecommunication carriers, Internet service providers and enterprises for delivery of voice, data and video applications to their customers or employees. Alcatel brings its leading position in fixed and mobile broadband networks, applications and services, to help its partners and customers build a user-centric broadband world. With sales of EURO 13.1 billion and 58,000 employees in 2005, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries. For more information, visit Alcatel on the Internet: http://www.alcatel.com

About Alcatel’s “Unlimited Mobile TV” solution
For the broadcast of mainstream TV channels, Alcatel’s solution reuses existing 3G radio sites, antennas and base stations (Node Bs), and extends them with broadcast repeater capability in the S-Band, providing broadcast for urban indoor environments. Concurrently, the S-Band is used by a high-power satellite providing instant coverage at a national or international level. This hybrid satellite and terrestrial infrastructure secures at the same time an unlimited number of TV channels in the
3G/unicast mode and an unlimited number of users in the broadcast mode, together with an unlimited geographical coverage including indoor. In addition, Alcatel’s Content Management & Service platform provides interactivity and personalization on any combined unicast and broadcast network, also allowing operators to seamlessly shift a channel from one distribution mode to the other depending on their estimated peak audience forecast for mainstream programs.

About DiBcom
DiBcom is at the heart of mobile TV. As a French fabless semiconductor company that designs high-performance chipsets, DiBcom enables low-power mobile and portable TV reception and at speeds up to 130 mph. The company’s solutions are used in automotive, PC/peripheral and handheld device applications. DiBcom has extensive experience solving real-world mobile digital terrestrial television (DTT) reception problems and has overcome the main technological barriers to high-quality service. The company has developed patented algorithms and architecture for fast and
accurate channel estimation and high Doppler compensation. Its chipsets are compliant with the current worldwide Digital Video Broadcast standards DVB-T and DVB-H. Founded in June 2000, DiBcom currently employs some 100 people all over the world. The company is headquartered in Palaiseau (France) with additional R&D office in Sweden and worldwide Sales offices in Germany, Taiwan, P.R. China (Shanghai), South Korea and US. DiBcom has attracted ?40.7M of funding to date. For more information, please visit www.dibcom.com

Contact Information

Mireille Holopherne

Corporate Media Relations

Alcatel

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