MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS, BARCELONA, Spain, February 12
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) and
NEC (TSE:6701) today announced the start of a broad collaboration to market
advanced end-to-end communications solutions.

    As an important first step in this collaboration, Alcatel-Lucent and
NEC have decided to form a joint venture that will focus on the development
of Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless broadband access solutions. These
solutions will support the network evolution of leading customers around
the world, such as NTT DoCoMo, who has already selected NEC as a vendor for
commercial service deployment of its Super 3G (LTE) project, and Verizon,
with whom Alcatel-Lucent has already initiated a LTE trial program. Through
this joint development effort, the two companies intend to accelerate the
availability of next-generation wireless solutions.

    Leveraging the common LTE product strategy and platform of the joint
venture, Alcatel-Lucent and NEC will each manage delivery, project
execution and dedicated support to their respective customers.

    Under this joint venture, the two companies will pool their existing
research & development resources and leverage market-proven expertise in
key technologies on which next-generation wireless access is based, such as
IP, multiple input/multiple output (MIMO) and orthogonal frequency division
multiple access (OFDMA). Through this joint development effort,
Alcatel-Lucent and NEC are affirming their R&D investment commitments and
combining them to accelerate product innovation, differentiation and
performance. The goal of the two companies is to achieve faster commercial
availability of LTE solutions, serve an expanded, global customer base, and
establish a leading position in the early development phase of the LTE
market. The two companies will make first commercial releases available in
2009, and will leverage their field-proven wireless expertise to ensure
smooth integration of LTE technology with the existing W-CDMA/HSPA and
CDMA/EV-DO networks of their respective customers.

    "By leveraging complementary portfolios, robust research and innovation
capabilities, and strong market positions in Japan and around the globe,
the partnership is well positioned to hasten the evolution towards the
next-generation of mobile services," said Philip Marshall, who heads up
technology research at Yankee Group. "This is a smart pairing that will
help accelerate the availability of LTE by capitalizing on early market
implementations that we expect to occur in Japan and North America."

    "This strategic collaboration with NEC is driven by scale,
time-to-market, and product excellence objectives, and it will put us in a
strong position to ride the next wave of transformation in the wireless
industry," said Patricia Russo, CEO of Alcatel-Lucent. "By drawing upon our
combined innovation capabilities, we will be able to effectively accompany
leading operators as they migrate their network to next-generation wireless
broadband technology, hence sustaining the value of their networks well
into the future," she added.

    "This collaboration gives us the potential to open up new market
opportunities for advanced wireless services globally," said Kaoru Yano,
President of NEC Corporation. "Moreover, NEC's core competence lies in
integrated IT/network solutions business. Through this alliance, we intend
to explore the potential for collaboration with Alcatel-Lucent to best
leverage both companies' market-leading capabilities in a wide range of
fields. We expect this partnership to contribute to the execution of our
next-generation network business strategy by expanding our reach into
global markets."

    In the future, the collaboration is expected to expand into end-to-end
third-generation (3G) CDMA-based solutions, as well as a wide range of
advanced IP-based solutions, such as optical transmission, IP service
routing, and IMS-based communications services. Alcatel-Lucent and NEC will
also investigate collaborating in developing IT solutions for service
providers - such as service application solutions (e.g. streaming,
e-commerce, etc.)- together with the servers and storage products on which
those solutions depend.

    About NEC

    NEC Corporation is one of the world's leading providers of Internet,
broadband network and enterprise business solutions dedicated to meeting
the specialized needs of its diverse and global base of customers. NEC
delivers tailored solutions in the key fields of computer, networking and
electron devices, by integrating its technical strengths in IT and
Networks, and by providing advanced semiconductor solutions through NEC
Electronics Corporation. The NEC Group employs more than 150,000 people
worldwide. For additional information, please visit the NEC home page at:
http://www.nec.com



    NEC Press contacts

    Chris Shimizu,
    Tel :+44(0)7785-340-901,
    chris.shimizu@eu.nec.com

    Akiko Shikimori,
    Tel :+81(0)90-5433-7171,
    a-shikimori@ay.jp.nec.com

    Takehiko Kato,
    Tel :+81(0)3-3798-6511,
    t-kato@cj.jp.nec.com

    About Alcatel-Lucent

    Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) provides solutions that
enable service providers, enterprise and governments worldwide, to deliver
voice, data and video communication services to end-users. As a leader in
fixed, mobile and converged broadband networking, IP technologies,
applications and services, Alcatel-Lucent offers the end-to-end solutions
that enable compelling communications services for people at home, at work
and on the move. With operations in more than 130 countries, Alcatel-Lucent
is a local partner with global reach. The company has the most experienced
global services team in the industry, and one of the largest research,
technology and innovation organizations in the telecommunications industry.
Alcatel-Lucent achieved revenues of Euro 17.8 billion in 2007 and is
incorporated in France, with executive offices located in Paris. For more
information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on the Internet:
http://www.alcatel-lucent.com



    Alcatel-Lucent Press Contacts

    Regine Coqueran,
    Tel: +33(0)1-40-76-49-24,
    regine.coqueran@alcatel-lucent.com

    Stephane Lapeyrade,
    Tel : +33(0)1-40-76-12 74,
    stephane.lapeyrade@alcatel-lucent.com

    Alcatel-Lucent Investor Relations

    Remi Thomas
    Tel: +33(0)1-40-76-50-61,
    remi.thomas@alcatel-lucent.com

    Maria Alcon,
    Tel: +33(0)1-40-76-15-17,
    maria.alcon@alcatel-lucent.com

    John DeBono,
    Tel: +1-908-582-7793,
    debono@alcatel-lucent.com

    Tony Lucido,
    Tel: +33(0)1-40-76-49-80,
    alucido@alcatel-lucent.com

    Don Sweeney,
    Tel: +1-908-582-6153,
    dsweeney@alcatel-lucent.com

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