Alcatel & Oracle Back thirdspace To Accelerate iTV Race

London - October 24, 2000 - Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA and NYSE: ALA), the worldwide
market leader in DSL solutions, and Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) the largest
provider of software for e-business, today announced their investment in a new company
called ‘thirdspace’. In addition to providing cash funds, both companies have transferred
interactive television (iTV) technology, people and resources from their respective iTV
departments.

thirdspace will seek to assist the world’s largest telephone companies in delivering a
range of services, including digital broadcast television and movies-on-demand, over
existing copper cables. Until now, such services have been the sole domain of cable
companies and satellite operators.

The new company will bring together technology, content and a dynamic consumer
marketing capability. thirdspace will work with telephone companies to capitalise on
their customer relationships, which are numbered in the hundreds of millions, and their
access to the copper loop.

The new company will be able to rapidly deploy its solution by leveraging the patented
technology assets contributed by Oracle and Alcatel. thirdspace will re-deploy these
assets focusing on the DSL networks of selected incumbent telephone companies
around the world.

thirdspace will be an independent company owned by Alcatel, Oracle and other strategic
partners. The company has recruited a world class management team with experience at
Netscape, Sony, Apple, Oracle and Alcatel.

According to Gary Bloom, executive vice president of Oracle: “Oracle has always felt
strongly that people should have universally available and attractive means of access to
the e-Economy. Interactive digital television provides this type of access, and thirdspace
is well positioned to have a major impact on this exciting new market.”

“The battle is on to build the most ubiquitous, most capable iTV platform,” said Brian
Keating, CEO of thirdspace. “The telephone companies start with a huge set of
advantages, not least of which is that they are already a trusted brand with hundreds of
millions of customers. The end to end solutions offered by thirdspace will empower the
telephone companies to take those customers into a new world of electronic services.”