Alcatel solidifies its HSDPA ecosystem and showcases HSUPA at 3GSM

Paris, February 8, 2006 — At the 3GSM World Congress 2006, Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA and NYSE: ALA) will showcase HSDPA and HSUPA demonstrations with key partners Novatel Wireless, Inc. (Nasdaq:NVTL), Option N.V. (Euronext: OPTI, OTC: OPNVY) and Samsung Electronics (Seoul KSE: 005930 and London GDR: SMSN), that highlight important milestones as part of Alcatel’s global Broadband Wireless Access strategy. Demonstrations will include:

· HSDPA 3.6 Mb/s wireless data calls using Samsung handsets, to be compared to the industry’s current 1.8 Mb/s data rates. This illustrates Alcatel’s commitment to bringing to market an end-to-end solution for fully fledged HSDPA-enhanced services.

· HSDPA 3.6 Mb/s wireless data services using HSDPA PC Data Cards from Novatel Wireless and Option, world leaders in the booming market of wireless PC Data Cards, residential gateways and embedded modules.

Alcatel’s current HSDPA solution supports all terminal categories defined by the 3GPP standard, offering carriers full support of new types of terminals such as Categories 8 and 10 (7.2 Mb/s and 14.4 Mb/s) from day one, with no need for modification to the network.


· Alcatel’s achievements in HSUPA highlighting an uplink capability up to 5 Mb/s. HSUPA by Alcatel will allow peer-to-peer interactivity, enabling a user, for example, to upload a 60 second video with MPEG-4 encoding (24 images per second, 600 x 400 analog TV-like resolution) in just 16 seconds. By providing reduced latency and an improved user experience, HSUPA will make new applications possible, such as the sharing of personalized, high-resolution video clips, video blog publishing, and ever more powerful interactive video services.

“Our HSDPA and HSUPA demonstrations at 3GSM confirm Alcatel’s strategy based on multi-standard evolutionary solutions, which natively integrates the entire family of GSM/UMTS radio technologies into one platform,” Philippe Keryer, President of Alcatel’s mobile radio activities declared. “These achievements highlight the software upgradeability of Alcatel HSDPA/HSUPA solution based on 3G/UMTS, laying the ground for future Software Defined Radio solutions.”

Leveraging its natively multi-standard design, the Alcatel Evolium® multi-standard radio access solution enables seamless coexistence of GSM/EDGE and 3G capabilities in the same radio equipment. Furthermore, thanks to its built-in software modularity, the solution will subsequently allow a smooth software-based introduction of HSDPA and HSUPA when the local market requires these functionalities, thus enabling a future-safe and cost-effective path for the operator.

Live HSDPA and HSUPA demonstrations will be shown on the Alcatel booth at 3GSM 2006 (Hall 8 – Booth A09).


About HSDPA
The HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) standard marks a similar leap forward for WCDMA and UMTS as EDGE does for GSM in terms of data transmission speed and capacity, essential for 3G evolution. Current field-proven 3G downlink speeds of about 384 kbps (up to 2 Mbps possible according to standards) will be boosted to 14Mbps (maximum value according to standards) with the first-generation HSDPA systems, enabling operators to support a considerably larger number of high data-rate users on a single radio carrier and ensure data-hungry subscribers get the best experience with innovative and existing multimedia services.

About HSUPA
The HSUPA (High Speed Uplink Packet Access) standard is an upgrade for WCDMA / UMTS / HSDPA networks that applies HSDPA-like enhancements to the uplink side of the connection, allowing upload data rates of up to 5.8 Mbit/s (million bits per second). HSUPA is considered a successor to HSDPA, which offers very fast data rates, but only for the downlink / download side. HSUPA is expected to be standardized by the 3GPP in UMTS Release 6.

About Samsung Electronics
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2004 parent company sales of US$55.2 billion and net income of US$10.3 billion. Employing approximately 113,600 people in over 90 offices in 48 countries, the company consists of five main business units: Digital Appliance Business, Digital Media Business, LCD Business, Semiconductor Business and Telecommunication Network Business. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, memory chips, mobile phones, and TFT-LCDs. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com

About Novatel Wireless
Novatel Wireless, Inc. is a leading provider of wireless broadband access solutions. Novatel Wireless’ Merlin(TM) PC Cards, Expedite(TM) Embedded Modems, Freedom Box(TM) Ruggedized Modems, MobiLink(TM) Communications Software Suite, Ovation(TM) 3G Multimedia Application Consoles and Conversa(TM) Software Suite enable high-speed wireless access to personal, corporate and public information. The company delivers innovative 3G solutions to operators, distributors and vertical markets worldwide. Headquartered in San Diego, California, Novatel Wireless is listed on NASDAQ: NVTL. For more information on Novatel Wireless visit www.novatelwireless.com. (nvtlg)

About Option
Option NV (Euronext: OPTI, OTC: OPNVY), the wireless technology company, is a leading innovator in the design, development and manufacture of 3G WCDMA (HSDPA and UMTS), EDGE, GPRS, GSM and WLAN technology products for wireless connectivity solutions. Option has built up an enviable reputation for creating exciting products that enhance the performance and functionality of wireless communications. Option’s headquarters are in Leuven, Belgium. The company has Research & Development in Leuven, a Software and Applications development centre in Adelsried (Germany), a Wireless Router development centre in Stockholm (Sweden) and an ISO 9002 production engineering and logistics facility in Cork, Ireland. More information can be found at www.option.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.

Contact Information

Mark Burnworth

Alcatel

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