Astral Telecom Selects ECI Telecom's XDM Optical Platform for 10-Gig SDH Network Backbone in Romania; XDM Allows Further Expansion of CATV, Internet and Voice Services and Reduction in Operational and Capital Expenditures

Business Wire, July 13, 2005

PETAH TIKVA, Israel -- ECI Telecom (NASDAQ:ECIL) announced today that it has implemented the XDM(R) Multi-Service Provisioning Platform (MSPP) in Astral Telecom's network. Astral Telecom is one of the most significant national providers in Romania of Analog and Digital Cable TV, Internet, and voice services. The XDM MSPP is already installed in Astral's national 10 Gbps (STM-64/OC-192) SDH backbone network and connects all the major cities in Romania. The contract is specifically designed to provide Astral's customers with next generation services.

ECI's Build-As-You-Grow(TM) approach will provide Astral with cost savings and ease of integration, and the additional capacity needed for leasing lines to other carriers and for cross border interconnection. The new platform will enable Astral to better utilize its network resources and further develop in order to connect new cities and expand its portfolio of services. At the same time, the XDM MSPP platforms allow Astral to experience a smooth migration to DWDM as the network grows without changing the existing platform.

"Astral has grown tremendously over the last two years. The XDM MSPP platforms implementation is the result of both our development and our clients' evolution. The new platform enables us to position ourselves as a significant provider in Romania's competitive market," said Dinu Malacopol, CEO, Internet, Data and Telephony of Astral. "We deployed STM-64 and STM-16 rings that will allow us to meet our objective of aggressively developing into Romania's greatest national carrier and a full next generation services provider. As we finalized the implementation of the XDM MSPPs, we can now launch our digital television services in all major cities, and our broadband services will be empowered with unprecedented capacity," Malacopol added.

"This latest contract with Astral Telecom confirms our continued traction in key Eastern European markets like Romania," said Eli Peled, President of the Eastern Europe business unit at ECI Telecom. "We are delighted to serve important players in this market like Astral Telecom with our flexible solution that will allow them to achieve their goals to grow their business opportunities significantly."

About Astral Telecom

Astral Telecom, with 800,000 cable subscribers in over 170 locations, is one of the most important communication service providers in Romania and one of Romania's most important providers of broadband Internet access and data transmission services in Bucharest and some other 30 major Romanian cities.

The company upgraded its network infrastructure and has now, in most of the cities it operates, broadband optical fiber networks capable of providing the full package of services including video, Internet and telephony/voice. With over 10 years experience on the market, the company continued to develop through organic growth and acquisitions.

About ECI Telecom

ECI provides advanced telecommunications solutions to leading carriers and service providers worldwide. By translating a deep understanding of their needs into innovative, technologically advanced solutions, ECI enables its customers to increase the value of the infrastructure of their networks and reduce operating expenses. ECI's platforms provide carriers and service providers with carrier-grade solutions for easily introducing new revenue-generating services.

ECI provides innovative IP service delivery solutions to the converged telecom networks encompassing Broadband access gateways, Service Edge Routers, Optical transport, Core IP/MPLS routers, NGN VoIP and multimedia applications and services. ECI maintains a global sales, marketing and customer support network, as well as a host of strategic channel relationships worldwide.

Certain statements contained in this release may contain forward-looking information with respect to plans, projections or future performance of the Company. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, product and market acceptance risks, the impact of competitive pricing, product development, commercialization and technological difficulties and other risks detailed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.