Agere Systems Unveils Industry's First Entry-Level Cell Phone Platform to Deliver Affordable, CD-Quality Music

Agere Systems Unveils Industry's First Entry-Level Cell Phone Platform to Deliver Affordable, CD-Quality Music

- Agere Platform, Coupled With Storage Technology, Give Cell Phone Users Quick Access to Several Hundred Songs at High-Quality Sound Levels

- New TrueNTRY(TM) Platform Offers Market Segment's Fastest and Most Integrated Solution at Bill of Materials Cost as Low as $30

ALLENTOWN, Pa., Sept. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Agere Systems (NYSE:AGR), building on its momentum of already having shipped chips for more than 135 million cellular phones, today introduced the TrueNTRY(TM) X125, the industry's first platform for delivering much more affordable entry-level cell phones that feature compact disc-quality music.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040618/AGERELOGO )

Agere's TrueNTRY(TM) X125 platform consists of semiconductor system chips, software and a product development kit.

The platform delivers the entry-level segment's fastest processing speed -- three times faster than most typical cell phones in use today; the most integration; and a bill of materials product cost as low as $30. At such low cost points, the cell phone market has the potential to accelerate its growth rate substantially, particularly in developing nations such as India and China.

This higher speed benefit of the X125 platform makes downloading CD- quality music in an entry-level handset faster and easier. In addition, Agere's audio software and hardware electronics circuitry and processing technologies play integral roles in delivering sound quality comparable with industry-leading music players. This allows converged music cell phones with higher music quality than today's typical entry-level cell phones.

Housed together with storage technology inside an entry-level cell phone, Agere's platform gives entry-level cell phone users unprecedented access to several hundred songs, which can be played at high-quality sound.

These entry-level platforms are performance and cost optimized for basic and voice-centric cell phone solutions -- the largest and most rapidly growing segment of the cell phone market.

The second chip set in Agere's portfolio of Vision(TM) architectural platforms, the X125 hits the market at a time when music player capability is becoming a widely craved feature in the cell phone market. By the year 2007, thirty percent of worldwide mobile handset shipments are projected to handle full-track music playback*.

"CD-quality music is rapidly becoming a 'must have' application for voice- centric and basic cell phones," said Denis Regimbal, executive vice president of Agere's Mobility Division. "The challenge has been figuring out how to achieve high-quality music and other higher-end, multimedia features on cell phones while making them much more affordable. The X125 overcomes this hurdle and unleashes breakthrough musical quality on entry-level phones."

Agere's platform provides 12 features that reduce BOM costs including:
-- integrated speaker amplifier
-- integrated CD quality stereo
-- integrated polyphonic sound synthesizer
-- integrated Universal Serial Bus 2.0 On-the-Go controller with charging
-- integrated power management circuits to support all phone peripherals
-- integrated battery charging circuits with over voltage protection

By providing a dedicated applications processor separate from the communications engine, the X125 platform reduces a cell phone manufacturer's product development costs and boosts overall processing speed. The boosted horsepower provided by the dedicated applications processor enables several key benefits including:

-- receiving phone calls or surfing the web while playing music
-- easing of applications software code development, test and
verification for cell phone manufacturers because it doesn't impact
the core communications engine
-- reducing power consumption because the more power hungry applications
processor can be powered down the majority of time a phone is on and
-- freeing up cell phone manufacturers to focus on developing
applications and man machine interfaces, without worrying about
impacting the communications engine.

The X125 platform supports advanced audio processing including dynamic noise suppression, echo cancellation, full-duplex speakerphone and a stereo equalizer.

The X125's analog baseband integrates the GSM/GPRS/EDGE handset features such as power control, frequency control, analog baseband processing, audio mixing and conversion, real time clock and power management.

Compliant with the wireless standard known as Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution (EDGE), the platform processes three times the data capacity (236.8 kilobits per second) and three times more subscribers than General Packet Radio Service (GPRS). More cell phones are based on the GPRS standard, 46 percent this year, than any other, though the growth in EDGE phones is projected to increase steadily during the next few years, according to International Data Corporation (IDC).

The X125 platform also includes Agere's proven and robust EDGE protocol stack now shipped in more than 11 million phones including more than 50 different models. The EDGE protocol stack was built on the back of Agere's robust GPRS stack, which has shipped in more than 135 million phones.

The X125 platform also includes Agere's OptiVerse(R) Software Architecture that provides an extremely fast way to get a cell phone to market. The architecture includes a system layer that provides a standard set of interfaces so cell phone manufacturers can focus their engineering efforts on value-added applications.

Spanning from the entry-level to the highest-end, cell phones range in price from about $40 to $350, according to Will Strauss, president of semiconductor market research company Forward Concepts. Platforms for higher- end cell phones than the X125 have bill of materials costs much higher than $30.

Agere plans to start shipping the platform in production quantities in October 2006.

For more information, customers may visit Agere's Web site at http://www.agere.com/ or contact one of Agere's regional sales offices. Customers in the U.S. may also call the Agere Systems Customer Response Center at 1-800-372-2447. Customers in Canada may call 1-800-553-2448. Customers outside those countries may call 1-610-712-4323. Fax inquiries may be directed to 1-610-712-4106, or e-mail queries to docmaster@agere.com. Written inquiries should be sent to Agere Systems, Room 10A-301C, 1110 American Parkway NE, Lehigh Valley Central Campus, Allentown, PA, 18109, USA.

Agere Systems is a global leader in semiconductors and software solutions for storage, mobility and networking markets. The company's products enable a broad range of services and capabilities, from cell phones, PCs and hard disk drives to the world's most sophisticated wireless and wireline networks. Agere's customers include top manufacturers of consumer electronics, communications and computing equipment. Agere works to transform the performance of networks and consumer electronics by integrating systems knowledge and leading technology that enable people to stay connected -- perfecting the connected lifestyle.

* IDC

Agere, Agere Systems, the Agere Systems logo and OptiVerse are registered trademarks and TrueNTRY and Vision are trademarks of Agere Systems Inc.

This release contains forward-looking statements based on information currently available to Agere. Agere's actual results could differ materially from the results stated or implied by those forward-looking statements due to a number of risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, our reliance on major customers and suppliers, our ability to keep pace with technological change, our dependence on new product development, price and product competition, availability of manufacturing capacity, customer demand for our products and services, and general industry and market conditions. For a further discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, see our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2005 and our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2006. Agere disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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Source: Agere Systems

CONTACT: Media Inquiries - Charlie Hartley, +1-610-712-1728 (Office),
+1-908-507-6631 (Cellular), cjhartley@agere.com

Web site: http://www.agere.com/

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