Press information

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

PRYSMIAN SIGNS MAJOR OPGW DEAL IN VENEZUELA

Milan, February 6th, 2007 - Prysmian Telecom Cables & Systems announces that it has secured a contract to supply more than 2000km of Optical Ground Wire (OPGW) cable to Venezuela. The contract was signed at the end of last year between Prysmian Telecomunicacoes Cabos e Sistemas, Brazil and the leading Chinese company Zhongxing Telecom Equipment Company Limited (ZTE) who will install the cables on the high voltage (up to 400kV) network of CADAFE, the Venezuelan state electrical utility.

OPGW cable forms an integral part of an overhead electricity network, performing both the primary function of a conventional earth conductor together with the provision of a state-of-the-art communications link thanks to the optical fibres contained within and the cable supplied in this contract will form the first part of a major national telecoms network providing a full range of broadband and internet services to CADAFE customers.

A total of 2,260 km of OPGW is to be supplied in this first phase with the cable containing a combination of 24 and 48 singlemode optical fibres. Production of cables for the project will be focused on the Prysmian facility at Sorocaba in Brazil. Prysmian also manufactures OPGW at factories in Spain and China. Since production of OPGW started in 1984 Prysmian has supplied over 100,000 km of cable, all based upon the highly reliable aluminuim tube technology, in more than 60 countries and is the world leader in this sector of the market. The optical fibres used within the cables will be produced at Prysmian's facility in Battipaglia, Italy.

First deliveries are due to be made before the end of January and the full quantity will be supplied by mid
2007 with the overall project continuing into next year "We are delighted to be working with a system integrator of ZTE's capabilities on such a major project" said Mr Giovanni B Scotti, director of Prysmian's global Telecom Cables and Optical Fibres business."OPGW continues to be a key product in our telecoms portfolio with power utilities worldwide recognizing the opportunities which it creates, particularly with respect to the current growth in broadband deployment."

For further information:
Communication Department - Press Office
Lorenzo Caruso, tel +39 02 6449 51534, mob +39 349 766 8006, email: lorenzo.caruso@prysmian.com

Marketing Department
Richard Thomas, tel +39 02 6449 7939, email: richard.thomas@prysmian.com