Tokyo, June 30, 2005 - Hitachi Cable, Ltd., today announced that it has been awarded by Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA and NYSE: ALA) a contract to supply approximately 3,300 kilometers of optical fiber cables for the FALCON submarine cable system, which was announced in February 2005. Alcatel was awarded the project by FLAG Telecom, a leading provider of international wholesale network transport and a member company of the Reliance Group.

The FALCON network is a multi-terabit/s new generation DWDM submarine cable system providing multiple landings throughout the Gulf region, with submarine links initially stretching to India in the east and to Egypt in the west. Spanning over 10,000 kilometers, it will offer extra-capacity in the region to help address the growing traffic demands from the accelerating take-up of broadband services. The FALCON system is scheduled to be ready for initial service by the fourth quarter of 2005 and upon completion it will greatly contribute to meet the demand for high-quality, cost-effective bandwidth to/from India and the Middle East.

The submarine optical fiber cable is specified as 4 fiber and 8 fiber core, which will be assembled with Alcatel's repeaters and optical networking Equipment. Hitachi Cable's optical fiber cables will be installed in the Gulf region and the Red Sea area. The manufacturing of the cables has already started at Hitachi Cable's Minato Works and the first cable loading is scheduled in August 2005. The completion of the entire manufacturing process is expected by the beginning of 2006.

''We appreciate Hitachi Cable's best efforts to meet this tight schedule with the best quality control,'' said Jean Godeluck, president of Alcatel's submarine network activity.