Alcatel wins a major contract from Mobitel to develop mobile network in Georgia

Paris, October 11, 2006 - Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA and NYSE: ALA) today announced that it has been awarded a contract by Mobitel, a subsidiary of VimpelCom (NYSE: VIP), a provider of telecommunication services operating under the “Beeline” brand, to deploy a new mobile network in Georgia.

The project will consist of covering the whole territory of Georgia with a new mobile GSM/GPRS/EDGE network, while preparing for the 3G/UMTS and/or WiMAX multi-standard introduction. Once the project will be completed Alcatel’s mobile solutions will enable Mobitel to provide advanced mobile communications services to subscribers in Georgia.

Under the terms of this contract, Alcatel will deliver its industry leading Alcatel Evolium™ GSM/GPRS/EDGE end-to-end solutions, including Base Station Sub-systems (BSS), NGN-based Mobile Switching Centers (NSS) as well as operation and maintenance support services. Alcatel will also deliver a high availability IP/MPLS network based on the Alcatel 7710 Service Router.

“We consider Georgia as one of the strategic mobile markets and hope to win a leading position in this market. To reach this objective, VimpelCom will do everything required to commercially launch a new network within a short time frame,” said Sergey Avdeev, executive vice-president and chief technical officer of VimpelCom. “I am confident that Alcatel’s rich experience in wireless technologies will enable us to achieve this challenging plan.”

“This contract not only gives Alcatel a solid footprint in the mobile market in Georgia but it also expands our long term successful cooperation with VimpelCom and our presence in the overall CIS market,” said Johan Vanderplaetse, vice-president for Alcatel activities in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). “The CIS High Growth Economies have proved to be a dynamic region for mobile communication and we are committed to enabling Mobitel to become a stronger competitive operator in Georgia by introducing innovative services, whilst ensuring long-term investment protection.”

Alcatel is one of the leading suppliers in providing advanced mobile communication solutions in Russia and in the CIS, a position the company established in 1994 when it introduced the first Russian GSM network in the city of Nizhniy Novgorod.

Alcatel is a leader in high growth markets with an 18% mobile market share. According to Synergy Research Group, Alcatel was #2 in the Services Edge Router category in Q2 2006, with 19% market share, following five consecutive quarters of market share gain.

About Mobitel
Mobitel owns GSM-1800 cellular licenses that are valid through mid-2013. Mobitel was founded in November 2003 and does not conduct any commercial operations.

About VimpelCom
VimpelCom Group comprises mobile operators, providing telecommunication services in Russia and Kazakhstan, with recently acquired operators in Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Georgia. The VimpelCom Group’s license portfolio covers approximately 237 million people. Geographically it covers 77 regions in Russia (with 136.5 million people, representing 94% of Russia’s population) as well as the entire territories of Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Georgia. VimpelCom was the first Russian company to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”). VimpelCom’s ADSs are listed on the NYSE under the symbol “VIP”. For more information, see http://www.vimpelcom.com

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

Contact Information

Mark Burnworth

Alcatel

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