Centillium Communications, Inc.

Laurie Falconer
Centillium Communications, Inc.
(510) 771-3647
[email protected]

NEC PARTNERS WITH CENTILLIUM COMMUNICATIONS FOR INDUSTRY'S FIRST DEPLOYMENT OF VOICE OVER ATM IN SOUTHEAST ASIA AND SOUTH AMERICA

Centillium's Voice Over Packet Technology Moves Into Two Important New Markets

FREMONT, Calif., April 24, 2001 - Centillium Communications, Inc. [NASDAQ: CTLM], innovator of broadband communications technology, today announces a partnership with NEC Corporation (NASDAQ: NIPNY) (FTSE: 6701q.1) (TSE: 6701) in supplying its Voice over Packet (VoP) Entropia chip to effectively handle voice traffic over Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) networks in Southeast Asia and South America. NEC Corporation, a leading supplier of computers, communications and electronics, will integrate Centillium's Entropia chip into its Extended Line Unit (ELU).

NEC's ELU is a compact remote access system for which call processing and maintenance work is handled remotely by the host office. The ELU is easily installable into various locations such as an end user's office building or a street in a residential area. NEC's ELU enables customers to build a network rapidly and flexibly in response to increasing service needs.

"We are very excited to be a part of this first time deployment of Voice over ATM (VoATM) into the rapidly growing markets of Southeast Asia and South America," stated Babu Mandava, general manager, Network Business Unit for Centillium Communications, Inc. "With VoATM support on Centillium's Entropia chip, NEC's customers can now deliver flexible, highly scalable voice services over data networks."

Entropia VoP Chip
Centillium's Entropia chip supports Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and VoATM Adaptation Layer Types 1 and 2 (AAL1 and AAL2). The Entropia chip leads the market with the capability to process 336 channels of either Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) or Adaptive Differential PCM (ADPCM) on a single chip. This chip provides the ultimate flexibility of selecting AAL1, AAL2, or IP network protocols on a per channel basis.

The highly integrated Entropia chip combines hardware, firmware and feature-rich software to deliver complete high density, low power packet voice capability in a single small form-factor device. The Entropia system-on-a-chip includes a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) and software for voice processing, including compression, echo cancellation, tone detection and generation, and signaling support. The network processor, which is also integrated on the chip, includes AAL1, AAL2, and IP processing. The chip comes with very advanced system level host Application Programming Interface (API) software and handles many compression algorithms, including G.711, G.726, G.728 and G.729.

About NEC Corporation
NEC Corporation (NASDAQ: NIPNY) (FTSE: 6701q.l) (TSE: 6701) is a leading provider of Internet solutions, dedicated to meeting the specialized needs of its customers in the key computer, network and electron device fields through its three market-focused in-house companies: NEC Solutions, NEC Networks and NEC Electron Devices. NEC Corporation, with its in-house companies, employs more than 150,000 people worldwide and saw net sales of 4,991 billion Yen (approx. US$48 billion) in fiscal year 1999-2000. For further information, please visit the NEC home page at: http://www.nec.com

About Centillium Communications
Centillium Communications, Inc. is combining technical innovation and customer commitment to make broadband communications a market reality. Centillium consistently delivers value to its customers by providing broadband networking systems for applications across all market segments. The company designs and markets communications chipset solutions for central office equipment, digital loop carrier (DLC) line cards, and customer premise equipment for Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), Voice over Packet (VoP) and Premise Networking. The Centillium Communications headquarters are located at 47211 Lakeview Blvd., Fremont, CA 94538. Additional information is available at www.centillium.com.

Forward Looking Statements
Except for historical information contained in this press release, the foregoing contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements based on a variety of risks and uncertainties, including the risks and uncertainties relating to actual quantities and timing of any orders received under the contract and the successful development and market acceptance of Centillium's new products. The company assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof. Information about potential factors that could affect Centillium's financial results is included in Centillium's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, which can be viewed at the Securities and Exchange Commission's website at www.sec.gov.

Centillium Communications and the Centillium logo are trademarks of Centillium Communications.