NEC to Help Pannon Meet Increasing Customer Demand for New Mobile Applications and Services

Tokyo, Japan & Broadband World Forum, Paris, France, September 7, 2009 - NEC Corporation (NEC), a leading provider of microwave and optical solutions, today announced that Pannon, the second largest mobile operator in Hungary and a subsidiary of Telenor, has chosen NEC to build a national optical transport network. The contract will see NEC providing Metro WDM equipment from Transmode to Pannon’s national network in Hungary and supplying design and operational support services.

In the last two years, Pannon has seen a rapid increase in data traffic on its network from bandwidth hungry mobile services and applications. NEC’s optical solution is optimized for data traffic and can also handle important legacy voice traffic. The new optical network across the country maximizes the capacity of existing infrastructure and can be upgraded from coarse WDM to dense WDM working on either a single fibre or a fibre pair. This can accommodate capacity from STM-4, STM-16, up to Gigabit Ethernet channels using the iWDM solutions from NEC’s partner, Transmode.

NEC has been a strategic supplier to Pannon for over a decade, providing various technologies including a network platform. NEC was chosen because of its leadership in network design and strong service capabilities, recognized track record of quality and reliability and the scalability and modularity of the TM-Series in conjunction with the industry leading functionality included in the iWDM solutions.

“In a competitive marketplace, telecom operators like us must invest in the most cost-effective and reliable network infrastructure to meet increasing bandwidth demand both now and in the future,” said Gyorgy Koller, CTO of Pannon. “We have therefore recognized that NEC, along with Transmode’s iWDM solution, saves us operational costs, scales well and allows us to future proof our network. NEC and Pannon have worked successfully together in the past and NEC has the ability to provide transmission for access and core over both fibre and wireless under one simplified management platform. We are very pleased with our relationship and hope it continues to thrive.”

“Today’s mobile ecosystem requires operators to respond quickly to fast changing demands. Consumers expect better services and a ‘killer’ experience, and operators need their networks to perform. Having a cost effective and reliable network infrastructure will also help operators stabilize and increase ARPU. We are delighted to have been chosen by Pannon to provide the technology and expertise to support its evolving network needs and pleased that our partnership with Transmode has contributed to this,” said Richard Hanscott, Vice President, Network Solutions, NEC Europe. “We have forged an extremely successful relationship with Pannon and hope to continue this into the future.”

Karl Thedéen, CEO at Transmode, added, "Winning the contract from Pannon is a good example of how well the partnership between NEC and Transmode is working in the Eastern European market. Pannon is now ready not only to meet the current customer demand but also the increased bandwidth demands from high speed access technologies like HSPA and LTE in the most cost efficient way.

About Pannon
Pannon is one of Hungary’s leading mobile operators. A wholly-owned subsidiary of Telenor of Norway, Pannon was established in 1994 and it soon developed a strong presence in Hungary. By the end of Q4 2008, Pannon had 3.731 million active subscriptions and a market share of 33,9%. Besides voice services, Pannon’s business is increasingly dominated by mobile Internet. In addition to its EDGE network available to 99% of Hungary’s population for e-mail and browsing, Pannon is continuously developing its 3G/HSDPA network offering the highest mobile data transfer rates. The 3G/HSPDA network is currently available in 373 towns and villages across Hungary. Pannon is a leader also in the Hungarian CR landscape: its corporate responsibility initiatives include the annual CR Day, Pannon Példakép Foundation, support for public causes, as well as arts and sports sponsorship. www.pannon.hu/eg/

About NEC Corporation
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 a diversified 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 140,000 people worldwide. For additional information, please visit the NEC website at: http://www.nec.com.

About Transmode
Transmode is a leading provider of optical networking solutions for transport of data, voice and video traffic, based on CWDM and DWDM technology (Coarse/Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing).
Transmode’s unique Intelligent WDM (iWDMTM) approach has lead to widespread deployment of over 10000 systems in a customer base consisting of more than 250 fixed and mobile network operators, service providers, large enterprises and public institutions across Europe, the Americas and Asia.
Transmode's comprehensive product portfolio and strong global organization enable our customers to grow the capacity and to improve service level of their regional, metro and metro access networks, on a cost-efficient basis without compromising on functionality.
For additional information about Transmode, please visit www.transmode.com

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