Lucent invests in Pridnestrovie

TIRASPOL, Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica - SAOZT Interdnestrkom (Interdnestrkom), mobile operator of Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica (Pridnestrovie), and Lucent Technologies (NYSE:LU) today announced they completed updating Interdnestrkom's existing IS-95 network to the third generation CDMA2000™ 1X standard. With the new technology, Interdnestrkom will be able to offer its customers in Tiraspol not only mobile voice services but also provide them with high-speed data and Internet access services.

The updated network will enable Interdnestrkom to significantly expand its service offerings with the third generation (3G) mobile services such as data transmission with the speeds of up to 153 kilobits per second (kbps). The technology supplied by Lucent opens new possibilities for the Interdnestrkom's business customers allowing them to establish a mobile office and to provide their employees with secure, high-speed communications capabilities at locations without cable infrastructure.

To migrate to the new generation standard, Interdnestrkom was not required to significantly change the existing infrastructure. According to the agreement signed by the two companies, Lucent supplied the high-speed packet data transmission equipment, upgraded base stations with CDMA2000 1X channel cards, and upgraded the network elements' software. This made possible the migration of the IS-95 network deployed by Lucent for Interdnestrkom in 1999 to new CDMA2000 1X technology.

"The upgraded network is future-proof, and the sooner we are able to introduce these advanced services the sooner businesses and consumers will grow to understand the benefits of the service and the capabilities of this new technology, resulting in increased demand," said Sergey Ganzha, first deputy director of Interdnestrkom.

"We are happy that with the Lucent Technologies solutions, Interdnestrkom can offer its subscribers new services, and will be able to change the existing views of what's possible with mobile communications services," said Dmitry Kamensky, managing director of Lucent Technologies Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States. "All of the high-speed data services that subscribers might access via fixed lines can be securely and quickly accessed via the mobile network, allowing subscribers to have high-speed data on the move."

CDMA2000 is an advanced and efficient wireless technology being introduced worldwide and an international third-generation (3G) standard established by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). CDMA2000 is the next generation of the IS-95 standard, and allows providers of mobile voice and data services to significantly increase network capacity and to deploy new mobile services. Lucent is the worldwide leader in CDMA networks, having deployed more than

Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, N.J., USA, designs and delivers networks for the world's largest communications service providers. Backed by Bell Labs research and development, Lucent relies on its strengths in mobility, optical, data and voice networking technologies as well as software and services to develop next-generation networks. The company's systems, services and software are designed to help customers quickly deploy and better manage their networks and create new, revenue-generating services that help businesses and consumers. For more information on Lucent Technologies, visit its Web site at http://www.lucent.com.

Interdnestrkom have been established in 1998 to offer to residential subscribers and business customers of Pridnestrovie telecommunications services. The company offers long distance and international phone services, CDMA mobile services, Internet access, ISDN, leased lines, and local phone services. The company established a network of call offices and offers to its users phone cards services. In 2002, together with Lucent Technologies' Kiev office Interdnestrkom successfully implemented migration of its cellular network to the third generation CDMA2000 standard.

The services offered by the company include full spectrum of the most advanced wireless communication CDMA technologies. For more information on Interdnestrkom and the presentation, visit its Web site at http://www.idknet.com.

For more information, reporters may contact:

Lucent Technologies
Elena Shugaley
tel: +7 812 329 85 02
fax: +7 812 329 85 10
Email:eshugal@spb.lucent.com

Interdnestrcom
Elena Zavodnova-Kozhan
tel: +37333 6-20-74, +37333 86-054
fax: +37333 6-20-22
Email:helen@admin.idknet.com