World’s Largest Sports Event, 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™, to Kick Off with Champion Converged Communications Network from Avaya

June 8, 2006

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. – When the ball is kicked tomorrow at the opening match of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™, the largest voice and data network ever - designed and managed by Avaya Inc. (NYSE:AV) – goes into full operation.

Over the next 31 days, 15 trillion bytes of information, equal to more than 100 million books will travel through the communications network built by Avaya, a leading global provider of communications networks and services for businesses. The converged network, which combines voice and data on the same infrastructure, will be used by teams, referees and journalists, plus FIFA and Organizing Committee officials for a myriad of tasks, including accreditation, reporting results, logistics and transportation.

New technologies will change the way fans, journalists, volunteers, and athletes enjoy and interact with the games and one another, and 12 stadiums, 12 cities, 64 matches, hotels, airports, train stations, and more will be completely connected.

“Goal lines in sports and bottom lines in business are the same – it’s all about having a winning team,” said Don Peterson, chairman and CEO, Avaya. “At the FIFA World Cup 2006, Avaya is the team that pulls together every player, match and a huge number of other activities with a world class communications network. Providing highly reliable and secure communications solutions is what we do for our customers around the world every day. Our team offers skills and powers as strong as FIFA World Cup players, so we can deliver a perfect communications ’match’ to any customer here at the games.”

With the Avaya network in place:


* Real-time scores will allow fans and the media globally to instantly know who scored a goal and which team won a match. The World Cup has an accumulated audience of 30 billion fans worldwide, but only 3.1 million will be able to watch the games live.



* Photojournalists can transmit digital photos wirelessly, instead of using film and dark rooms, on which journalists had to rely at the FIFA World Cup 2002.



* In the past, an average of two to three phone numbers, including an office and mobile phone number, were listed for each person working during the World Cup and the directory needed to be updated and printed twice daily. Now a new web-based directory can update contact lists instantly.



* Reliability is ensured, with 99.99% availability. Avaya conducted more than 400 tests at its FIFA World Cup lab in Frankfurt. The tests, validated by Netconsult, included exhaustive testing of failover scenarios, backup power, firmware and software compatibility, and the resiliency of many IP applications to ensure the network won’t go down or slow down.



* Sophisticated security is in place to prevent viruses and hackers, with software that enables Avaya technical experts to locate the source of the virus or intrusion.


“It doesn’t get much bigger or harder than the FIFA World Cup when it comes to the need for secure, reliable communications,” said Mike Kelly, Head of IT Solutions, FIFA. “That’s why FIFA chose Avaya to help with this project. An intelligent network, quickly built from the ground up, can transform the way a sporting event is seamlessly presented to the world.”

About Avaya
Avaya, Inc. designs, builds and manages communications networks for more than one million businesses worldwide, including over 90 percent of the FORTUNE 500®. Focused on businesses large to small, Avaya is a world leader in secure and reliable Internet Protocol telephony systems and communications software applications and services.

Driving the convergence of voice and data communications with business applications - and distinguished by comprehensive worldwide services - Avaya helps customers leverage existing and new networks to achieve superior business results. For more information visit the Avaya Web site: http://www.avaya.com

About the FIFA World Cup 2006™
As the Official Convergence Communication provider for the FIFA World Cup 2006™, Avaya is providing a champion communications network for the World’s largest sporting event. The converged network – that combines voice and data on the same infrastructure – will connect the 12 host stadiums, the international media centres in Munich, Berlin and Dortmund and the FIFA headquarters in Berlin. Players, coaches, volunteers and fans alike will benefit from the Avaya network that will be instrumental in player and journalist accreditation, the reporting of results, material tracking, accommodation confirmations, transportation, and ticketing among other critical functions. With an estimated 45,000 network connections, 30,000 network devices and over 15 terabytes (or 15,000,000,000,000 bytes) of data, it is the largest converged communication network ever built for a sporting event.

Contact Information

Barbara Burgess

Media Relations

Avaya

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