Today's lottery held by the French Telecoms Regulator, Arcep (formerly ART), has resulted in Le Numero scooping the prized 118 218 'Golden Number' for French directory inquiries.

Arcep held the anticipated lottery for the new 118 XXX numbers in Paris at 09.00 hours today. The allocation of 118118 was expressly forbidden by the Arcep on the grounds it would give the holder a particularly unfair advantage. Nevertheless, 118 218 is widely regarded as the most memorable of the available numbers.

In a marked contrast to former regulator OFTEL's UK lottery, Arcep ensured a smaller number of bidders were permitted, and reduced the number of 118 XXX codes issued.

The main bidders and their numbers are:

Le Numero 118 218
Bouygues 118 812
Telegate 118 555
SFR 118 777
Conduit 118 500
France Tel. 118 712

The lottery clears the way for launch of commercial services from 2nd November this year.

Le Numero is led by Chief Executive Bruno Massiet du Biest, formerly Directeur General of Scoot France, with Chris Moss, former Chief Executive of The Number, now European Chairman.

Commenting on the news, Bruno Massiet du Biest said, "The odds against us securing 118 218 were 100 to 1. It was a game of pure chance. To be able to choose and secure 118218 gives our plans to bring a new kind of directory inquiry service to the French public a terrific boost. Le Numero 118 218 is born today."

For further information:

William Ostrom 07802 91000 (direct line, mobile)
Director of Communications

Notes to Editors

France Directory Inquiry Deregulation

A market of 250 millions calls per year, France Telecom operates the main service dealing with the bulk of calls from landlines only (c.55% of the market).

Mobile services - 712, 612, 222 - each of the three French mobile operators (Orange, SFR, Bouygues) run their own separate services that can be accessed from mobile phones. (c.45% of the market).
Deregulation is by Arcep (formerly ART):
- Withdrawal of all "old codes" (12, 712, 612, 222, 32PQ?) for a 6 figures number all beginning by 118
- Numbers from 100 to 199 were disallowed
- To avoid any speculation, the possibility of transferring numbers to another operator is prohibited for two years.
- For similar reason, numbers not exploited for 12 months will be withdrawn.
- Services are expected to commence from 2nd November 2005.

About Bruno Massiet du Biest, Chief Executive, Le Numero
Aged of 45, a graduate of Ecole Polytechnique and France top telecommunications college (ENST), Bruno Massiet du Biest began his career at France Telecom. After a secondment in 1988 in the SGCI (Prime Minister Office for European Affairs) in charge of the telecom and industry sectors, he joined SFR in 1990 as Director of Development, member of the Steering Committee. After being Chairman of the GSM MoU, the worldwide association of the GSM operators, he undertook several missions within Cegetel and Vivendi before becoming in 1999, Deputy Director General of Vivendi Telecom International. In 2000, he founded Scoot France, a joint venture between Scoot UK plc and Vivendi Universal, that he managed as CEO and chairman until the end of 2002.

About The Number 118118
118118 instantly became Britain's most called number the day 192 was switched off in August 2003 thanks to the cult phenomena of the 118 twin runners. Taking 45% of all UK directory calls, 118118 offers 96% accuracy (source: Ofcom/ICSTIS research published March 2005) and a wide range of additional services including call connect, cinema listings, train times, category searches, direction services, multiple searches and texted results plus finding numbers with incomplete information. 20% of all numbers found by 118118 are accessed through the company's new and free web search service on 118118.com. The Number 118118 is a wholly owned subsidiary of global directory assistance company, InfoNXX Inc.

www.thenumber.com


ENDS