WARSAW, Poland, Sept. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Lucent Technologies and Netia S.A. capital group , Poland's largest alternative provider of fixed line telecommunications services, announced today that they signed a frame contract for delivery of equipment and services for the construction of Netia's next generation network. Netia will be the first service provider in Poland to offer sophisticated IMS-based voice and multimedia services to business customers throughout the country.

Lucent will deliver solutions and services from its Accelerate(TM) Next Generation Communications Solutions portfolio, including elements of Lucent's Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) Solution. The new network will enable Netia to cost-effectively provide new next generation revenue generating services, such as IP Centrex and a combined IP telephony and multimedia applications to its business customers.

"We want Netia to be the natural choice for enterprise customers in Poland, therefore we need to offer them the best and most innovative services," said Paul Kearney, Board member and CTO of Netia. "We are partnering with Lucent for this NGN project, as they provide a platform, which enables us to have the most advanced IP-based services portfolio today on the market, as well as top level service support."

Under the agreement, Lucent will deliver IMS elements, such as the Lucent Feature Server, Lucent Network Controller and Lucent Network Gateways, session border controller technology, accompanying management systems and SIP-enabled Customer Premises Equipment. Lucent Worldwide Services will provide support, installation and additional customization services and multi-vendor product support, and will also provide network integration support for Lucent's products in Netia's existing network.

"We are proud that Netia, a convergence innovator, selected us as the supplier for their state-of-the-art IMS-ready network", said Stan Szuder, President for Lucent Technologies, Central and Eastern Europe. "We will focus on project implementation to ensure successful rollout of this first next generation network in Poland."

Lucent has had a successful relationship with Netia, dating back to 1998. Lucent has provided electronic switches, access systems, symmetric DSL access equipment for business applications, transmission systems and equipment for Netia's ATM/FR backbone.

About Netia S.A.

Netia is the largest alternative fixed-line telecommunications operator in Poland. It operates on the basis of its own, state-of-the-art fiber-optic backbone network that connects the largest Polish cities as well as its local access networks. Netia provides a broad range of telecommunications services, including voice, data and network wholesale services.

To further strengthen its customer offering by including a convergent product, Netia intends to develop mobile capability to offer mobile services. The reservation of UMTS frequencies for Netia Mobile was formally awarded by the Polish regulator.

Netia Globe SA and Netia .wiat SA, Netia's subsidiaries, were announced as winners of Poland's tender for frequency reservations in 3.6-3.8 GHz range. Netia plans to use the above frequencies to provide high quality data and voice transmission in WiMax technology.

The main shareholders of Netia SA are international and Polish financial funds. Netia's shares are listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. More information on Netia can be found at http://www.netia.pl/.

About Lucent Technologies

Lucent Technologies designs and delivers the systems, services and software that drive next-generation communications networks. Backed by Bell Labs research and development, Lucent uses its strengths in mobility, optical, software, data and voice networking technologies, as well as services, to create new revenue-generating opportunities for its customers, while enabling them to quickly deploy and better manage their networks. Lucent's customer base includes communications service providers, governments and enterprises worldwide. For more information on Lucent Technologies, which has headquarters in Murray Hill, N.J., USA, visit http://www.lucent.com/.

Lucent Technologies Poland, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lucent Technologies, provides communications solutions to telecom service providers in Poland. The company has been involved in the Polish market since 1990. In 2001 Lucent Technologies Poland was granted the TL9000 certificate. For more information on Lucent Technologies in Poland visit the company's web site at http://www.lucent.com.pl/.

CONTACT: Kasia Kowalska, Lucent Technologies Poland, +48-22-692-36-95 -
Office, or +48-601-326-300 - Mobile, or Jolanta Ciesielska of Netia S.A.,
+48-22-330-2407, Jolanta_ciesielska@netia.plkkowalska@lucent.com, or John
Verdon, Lucent Technologies EMEA, +44-20-7004-0138 - Office, +44-7801-762387 -
Mobile, verdon@lucent.com

Web site: http://www.lucent.com/