Lucent Technologies' SuperLine Access System Accepted for Telecommunications Loan Program by Rural Utilities Service

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Lucent Technologies' SuperLine Access System Accepted for Telecommunications Loan Program by Rural Utilities Service

    DES MOINES, Iowa, March 6 /PRNewswire/ -- (Rural Iowa Independent
Telephone Association Conference and Expo) - Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU)
announced today that the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) has accepted the
SuperLine(TM) Access System for listing in its telecommunications loan
program.  This acceptance means that SuperLine purchases made by rural
telecommunications service providers now qualify for low-cost federal
financing.
    SuperLine is a VoDSL (voice over digital subscriber line) product targeted
to the residential and small-office/home-office market.  It provides standard
telephone service (POTS) plus two additional voice lines and high-speed data
services -- all over the existing copper twisted pair.  SuperLine has been
deployed successfully by more than 20 independent service providers, primarily
in rural areas, throughout the United States.
    "Acceptance in the RUS loan program now makes it easier for rural service
providers to deploy the multiple voice lines and high-speed data that
SuperLine offers," said Ken Arndt, vice president of marketing.  "By ensuring
low-cost access to needed capital, the RUS is helping rural households and
businesses participate fully in the information superhighway with access to
advanced broadband services like SuperLine."
    As a federal credit agency in the United States Department of Agriculture,
the RUS provides a leadership role in lending and technical guidance for the
rural utilities industries.  The RUS provides infrastructure financing for
electric, telecommunications, water and waste disposal projects in rural
America.  RUS manages a $42 billion loan portfolio including investments in
approximately 7,000 small community and rural water and wastewater systems and
2,000 electric and telecommunications systems servicing some 84 percent of
America's counties through a local-federal partnership.
    SuperLine will be used in implementing the new RUS broadband funding
initiative.  This is a pilot program that will make $100 million in
treasury-rate loan funds available to finance construction and installation of
broadband telecommunications services in rural America.
    A list of RUS-approved transmission and central office equipment is
available on the RUS web site at
http://www.usda.gov/rus/telecom/materials/6-ep.pdf .  Service providers
interested in more information about SuperLine may visit
http://www.agcs.com/superline or contact a sales representative by e-mail at
superline@lucent.com.

    Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, N.J., designs and
delivers the systems, software, silicon and services for next-generation
communications networks for service providers and enterprises.  Backed by the
research and development of Bell Labs, Lucent focuses on high-growth areas
such as broadband and mobile Internet infrastructure; communications software;
communications semiconductors and optoelectronics; web-based enterprise
solutions that link private and public networks; and professional network
design and consulting services.  For more information on Lucent Technologies,
visit its web site at http://www.lucent.com.

SOURCE Lucent Technologies, Inc.

http://www.lucent.com
CONTACT:
Michael Mitchell of Lucent Technologies,
623-581-4198, mm41@lucent.com