Lucent and Novatel to supply 3G UMTS PC Card Modems to the KPN Mobile Division in the Netherlands and Germany

HILVERSUM, The Netherlands and SAN DIEGO, California - Lucent Technologies and Novatel Wireless announced that the two companies will supply KPN in the Netherlands and E-Plus in Germany with the Merlin U530™ Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) PC Card Modems - jointly developed by Lucent and Novatel Wireless. Under the terms of a multi-million dollar supply agreement, Lucent and Novatel Wireless will supply these 3G data cards to support the rollout of high-speed data services on the 3G UMTS networks in KPN's territories.

The 3G data cards will enable KPN to offer customers enhanced services such as high-quality streaming video and audio, secure mobile access to e-mail with large attachments and other information stored behind corporate firewalls at data transfer speeds of up to 384 kilobits per second. Network users will have access to KPN's enhanced high-speed data services by plugging the PC cards into a laptop and installing the accompanying client software.

"With these 3G UMTS data cards we will be able to successfully launch UMTS and sell high speed data services, so we can position ourselves as the UMTS supplier for enterprise solutions across our customer base in Europe," said Mark de Jong, executive vice president Corporate Development KPN Mobile Division.

"KPN is one of the leaders in introducing cutting edge wireless services in the countries it operates in," said Heide Jeuken-Dahmen, director mobility segment for Lucent Technologies. "These services are particularly attractive to business users, and we are pleased to be supporting KPN as the company develops to offer customers high-speed mobile access to the Internet and corporate networks and multimedia services using the Merlin U530™ Wireless PC Card Modem from Lucent and Novatel Wireless."

"Continued adoption of the Merlin U530™ testifies to its reliability, ease of use and best in class functionality," said Peter Leparulo, CEO for Novatel Wireless. "The addition of KPN represents our eighth top tier operator customer in Europe, clearly establishing us as the market leader in 3G UMTS data solutions."

The original press release can be found here.