ASIA Japan : NEC Corporation and Sumitomo Corporation have signed a framework contract with Italian mobile phone operator Wind for the supply of NEC's advanced point-to-point wireless access systems, PASOLINK NEO(R).

Italy has a prime mobile phone market, boasting a total of 80.3 million mobile customers, with market penetration of 136%. Wind is one of the leading fixed-line, mobile and internet operators in this market, with more than 15 million mobile customers and more than 18% market share.

One of the advantageous features of NEC's PASOLINK NEO, as compared with other wireless access systems, is its ability to handle different transmission speeds and interfaces with the same platform. This flexibility allows easier and more cost efficient expansion of networks when operators need to increase capacity. Furthermore, NEC's ability to carry out full development, from purchasing of raw materials to mass production, ensures a highly reliable system of superior quality, which achieves an average failure rate of less than once every hundred years.

"NEC's virtually fail-safe class of reliability is why carriers worldwide are choosing NEC as their supplier of choice for wireless access systems," said Mr. Raffaele Brevetti, President and CEO, NEC Italia S.r.l. "NEC and Sumitomo have won this framework contract as a result of the positive reaction of current PASOLINK(R) customers." "NEC has been chosen by Wind, based on the quality and resilience of the equipment, and we are looking forward to a successful implementation," said Mr. Philip Tohme, Chief Technology Officer, Wind Telecomunicazioni S.p.a.

NEC was recently named the leading microwave communication-system company by industry analysts (1) with a global market share of 31% in the third quarter of the CY2007.

With the accelerating global expansion of mobile subscribers and mobile internet services, demand for microwave communication systems is expected to see substantial growth, as these systems enable quick installation of telecommunication infrastructure. The rapid growth of NEC's PASOLINK business can be attributed to NEC's long-standing experience, competence, advanced and high-quality technologies, and its leading position in the global microwave communication systems market.

NEC will continue to drive its advantageous position in the mobile and wireless communication systems market to expand its growth and business operations worldwide.