NEC Corporation (NASDAQ:NIPNY), leading global provider of IT, network, and electron device solutions and Valista International Ltd., the leading provider of merchandizing, payments, and settlement solutions accelerating and automating digital commerce, have formed a strategic partnership to target payments solutions business opportunities in Japan with secure and flexible payments offerings.

NEC and Valista's partnership includes joint development of the 'Value Chain' payments platform, an emerging payments platform fuelled by multi-industry offerings. The ?Value Chain' payments platform will be designed for deployment on the next generation network and integration of Valista's products into NEC's NGN service application platform. The collaboration will also include joint marketing of payments solutions in digital commerce and emerging fields, sales of Valista's products and services by NEC, and the provision of system integration and maintenance service for Valista's products by NEC.

?The arrival of the era of the Next Generation Network will have a considerable impact on the lifestyle of individuals and enterprise business models. NGN will enable a more real communication with a sense of immediacy. We expect that it will be possible to offer various services such as video/music delivery and digital commerce securely and cheaply, with enhanced user experience. The fusion of Valista's experience in payments, settlement, and merchandizing and NEC's proven strength in system integration will allow us to realize total solutions supporting the provision of new services,? commented Shigeru Okuya, Assistant General Manager of the 2nd Network Software Division, NEC Corporation. ?NEC will further endeavour to create the optimum environment for service provision, to propose a variety of service solutions for implementation on the NGN, and to contribute towards improved convenience for the user and profitability for the operator.?

Due to the increasing number of e-commerce users and the adoption of virtual currency usages such as stored value or mobile credit service, person to person transfer of e-tickets and points, and service offerings coordinated across multiple industries, a secure and safe payments platform is becoming a necessity for businesses. It is essential that a secure and highly reliable payments platform for the ?Value Chain business model? is implemented onto NGN providing authentication and QoS capability to support these services.

?The realization of the 'Value Chain' business model, where players from diverse industries collaborate in the provision of each service, is increasingly seen as the key to successful business on the next generation network. NEC's proven strength combined with Valista's experience in payments, settlement, and merchandizing, will enable the provision of a secure and reliable business platform,? said Yutaka Nozawa, Japan Country Manager, Valista.

The partnership also has sights beyond the Japanese domestic market aiming to expand into the global telecommunications market combining NEC's proven strength in system integration and Valista's global experience in payments, settlement, and merchandizing solutions. Valista's commerce solutions and managed services have been proven across the globe in real world implementations by leading innovators such as America Online, Cricket, Vodafone, NTT DoCoMo, France Telecom's w-HA, Orange, 3; mBlox, Hong Kong CSL and GTECH.

About NEC Corporation

NEC Corporation (NASDAQ: NIPNY) is one of the world's leading providers of internet, broadband network and enterprise business solutions dedicated to meeting the specialized needs of its diverse and global base of customers. NEC delivers tailored solutions in the key fields of computer, networking and electron devices, by integrating its technical strengths in IT and Networks, and by providing advanced semiconductor solutions through NEC Electronics Corporation. The NEC Group employs more than 150,000 people worldwide.

For additional information, please visit the NEC home page at: http://www.nec.com

* Newsroom: http://www.nec.co.jp/press/en/

About Valista® Ltd.

Valista is a global leader in the provision of multi-channel merchandizing, payments and settlement solutions, accelerating and automating digital commerce. It provides a unique suite of solutions accelerating the adoption of digital content and enables the digital lifestyle by ensuring that consumers can purchase and pay for content over any channel, using any payment instrument.

Valista understands the requirements of the evolving digital content marketplace enabling increased brand awareness, customer satisfaction and incremental revenue streams for its customers. The company enables mobile, broadband and cable operators, ISPs, aggregators, games vendors, broadcasters, production companies and brands to support the entire commerce ecosystem including end-to-end transaction management, multiple payment options; advanced settlement; subscriptions, bundling, discounting, promotions and loyalty programs. Valista offers a wide range of implementation options, deploying best of breed application software, assisting with analysis, design and integration or delivering a complete managed service.

Valista's commerce solutions and managed services have been proven across the globe in real world implementations by leading innovators such as America Online, Cricket, Vodafone, NTT DoCoMo, France Telecom's w-HA, Orange, 3; mBlox, Hong Kong CSL and GTECH. For more information, please visit www.valista.com.

NEC Corporation
Takehiko Kato
Tel: +81-3-3798-6511
Fax: +81-3-3457-7245
t-kato@cj.jp.nec.com
or
Valista®
Jennifer Cakir
Marketing Manager, 
Tel: +353-1-276-4511
Fax : +353-1-276-4533
jcakir@valista.com