Telecom Italia Lab and STMicroelectronics demonstrate first prototype of open mobile platform at 3GSM World Congress

• ST's Nomadik STn8800 application processor running Linux hosts a Telecom Italia Lab exploration of next-generation services
• Open mobile platform to be featured on the ST booth February 14-17, in Cannes, Stand K19, Hall 4

Geneva and Turin, 15 February 2005 -- STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM) and Telecom Italia Lab, the R&D branch of the Telecom Italia Group, today announced they will showcase a first prototype of an open and configurable mobile platform based on the Nomadik STn8800 application processor and OMTP (Open Mobile Terminal Platform)-suggested criteria, at the 3GSM World Congress. This demonstration shows an innovative mobile solution providing operators with a secure environment where they can develop and customize reliable and portable proprietary applications that will easily define and launch advanced services.

The platform demonstration shows how a mobile handset could be used to connect to a home server, where an authorized user can download, browse, or store music, video, or access other licensed or proprietary content as well as control remote appliances. The platform also integrates a distributed speech-recognition front end, developed at Telecom Italia Lab, allowing the user to control applications using voice commands or via the keypad.

This cooperation between ST and Telecom Italia Lab facilitates the development of the Nomadik platform as the "solution of choice" to address the convergence of technologies: fixed mobile and consumer open terminals.

"Working closely with Telecom Italia Lab allowed us to collaborate early on in the significant development of a complete platform to support future operator needs and end-user desires," said Patrice Meilland, Marketing Director of ST's Application Processor & Portable Platforms Division. "The Open Mobile Platform represents a fundamental element for the Nomadik application processor family eco-system."

"Mobile operators today have the challenge of developing new services facing the convergence of technologies and must be willing to maximize portability, re-usability, and user environments on different devices," said Maura Turolla, Engineering Area Manager, of Telecom Italia Lab. "The evolution of mobile handsets toward application processor-based architectures, where applications and the modem are independent, eases customization of services and faster time-to-market, accelerating the fixed and mobile convergence. Nomadik facilitates the development of new services, thanks to its innovative distributed processing architecture which offers a very large ARM bandwidth for applications, exceptional multimedia performance via smart accelerators".

About the Nomadik platform
The Nomadik STn8800 belongs to a new generation of processors, designed for appliances and terminals requiring ultra-low power consumption, excellent audio and video capabilities, support for displays, SIMs, Multimedia Cards, open operating systems as Symbian, Linux and Windows CE and simplified software development. The Nomadik family of processors is modem-agnostic, insuring the independence of the application from the communication bearer: this facilitates the portability and re-use of services and user environments on top of popular communication technologies such as UMTS, EDGE, GPRS, CDMA, WiFi.

* * *

STMicroelectronics is a global leader in developing and delivering semiconductor solutions across the spectrum of microelectronics applications. An unrivalled combination of silicon and system expertise, manufacturing strength, Intellectual Property (IP) portfolio and strategic partners positions the Company at the forefront of System-on-Chip (SoC) technology and its products play a key role in enabling today's convergence markets. The Company's shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange, on Euronext Paris and on the Milan Stock Exchange. In 2004, the Company's net revenues were $8.76 billion and net earnings were $601 million. Further information on ST can be found at www.st.com.

Telecom Italia Lab is the R&D branch of the Telecom Italia Group. Centre of excellence since 1964 in networks and services, Telecom Italia Lab took part in the definition and consolidation of the GSM standard, MP3 and optical transmission. Today it goes on creating innovation through direct experience in the planning of fixed and mobile access networks, supporting the evolution of the transport network, developing platforms and services, prototyping next generation terminals. Its main research areas are: the evolution of mobile communication, from third generation mobile systems to a variety of overlapping wireless networks increasing access flexibility (WiFi, UWB, WiMax, MoFi); the diffusion of broadband bandwidth, studying affective techno-economic solutions to deploy optical fibers; the dissemination of identification and localization systems embedding tagging technologies within telecommunication functionality. Taking part in major co-operative research work on an international level with universities, research centers and manufacturers, Telecom Italia Lab anticipates the future.