[In-vehicle GPRS and UMTS applications may be deployed as early as the first half of 2001 according to this announcement coming out of the Paris "In-Car Tech" trade show.]

Paris -- Nortel Networks [NYSE/TSE: NT] and Egery, a joint venture of Vivendi and PSA Peugeot Citroen, have signed an agreement to jointly develop a Wireless Internet in-vehicle solution intended to demonstrate on-going innovation in high-speed multimedia applications and services for motorists.

The initial phase of this joint development - a demonstration system in a connected car - was unveiled today at the In-Car Tech trade show in Paris, France at the Egery booth.

Nortel Networks and Egery intend to develop a pilot system of Wireless Internet applications for motorists. These applications are expected to operate on both 2.5G GSM networks, which use GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) and 3G UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) networks. Demonstration and deployment of this pilot system is anticipated during the first half of 2001.

The pilot system is aimed at providing European motorists with innovative, personalized, in-car services, otherwise known as telematics. The global telematics services market is expected to exceed US$15 billion annually by 2005 according to The Strategis Group.

These services will include m-commerce, location based services, safety and security, mobility and route guidance (dynamic navigation and traffic information), in-car entertainment (m-shopping, games, interactive radio, music and video on-demand).

"We see tremendous potential for in-vehicle applications with the introduction of high-speed GPRS and UMTS networks," said Doug Lowther, vice president, Wireless Internet Strategic Marketing, Nortel Networks. "Nortel Networks is building an end-to-end Wireless IP solution, which will enable operators to deliver personalized IP services to their subscribers using virtually any combination of multimedia content and access devices."

"The in-vehicle environment is an ideal place for an optimized usage of high-speed mobile Internet content and services for passengers and drivers alike," said Jean-Marc Monguillet, chief executive officer, Egery. "The power of GPRS and UMTS networks will make possible a whole new range of services for motorists, bringing contents such as music in the car and also allowing secured remote access to the car from the Internet, while complying with driving safety regulations."

Under the agreement announced today, Nortel Networks will provide GPRS and UMTS network expertise; Nortel Networks e-mobility Internet Base Transceiver Station for wide-area radio access; Nortel Networks Passport multiservice switch for media gateway functionality; Nortel Networks Shasta 5000 Broadband Service Node for bandwidth management and advanced service delivery; Nortel Networks Contivity extranet switch for secure VPN connections to corporate intranets; Nortel Networks Alteon Web switch for advanced content networking; and Nortel Networks Preside solutions for end-to-end network and service management.

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