Luxembourg, 7th December 2011: In the presence of officials from the UN and member states, Luxembourg?s Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, Marie-Josée Jacobs, officially launched emergency.lu, in New York, on 7 December 2011. emergency.lu is a global multi-layer telecommunication platform. It was designed to help the humanitarian and civil protection community in the field to (re-)establish telecommunication services for effective communication and coordination of first responders. The platform provides satellite infrastructure and satellite capacity, communication terminals, and rapid deployment logistics in response to natural disasters or man-made crises. emergency.lu was initiated as a public-private partnership by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg together with HITEC Luxembourg, SES TechCom andLuxembourg Air Ambulance. It was developed in close collaboration with the World Food Programme in support of its role as the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster lead. It has been coordinated with major relevant international organisations, i.a. ITU, UNOCHA and the European Union, as well as with actors from civil society and the private sector, including Ericsson Response and Skype. emergency.lu is intended to serve as a global public good. Its first deployment will be launched in Mogadishu, Somalia by the end of 2011. Additional deployments are scheduled for early 2012 in the Republic of South Sudan. For further information: Marianne Donven Ministry of Foreign Affairs +352 247-88382 http://newyork-un.mae.lu/fr About HITEC Luxembourg S.A.                        www.hitec.lu HITEC Luxembourg S.A., a 100%-owned Luxembourg company, has developed its business activities in the field of innovative and quality products and services. The company is ISO 9001 certified for engineering, analysis, consulting, manufacturing, maintenance and sales of systems in mechanics, electronics, physical measuring techniques as well as information and communication technologies. The Luxembourg ESR label for corporate social responsibility (CSR) certifies the commitment by HITEC Luxembourg to monitor and promote an approach to CSR with respect to economic, social and environmental dimensions of its stakeholders. The company has been awarded with the SuperDrecksKëscht fir Betriber label for its contribution to an environmental friendly waste management. The label is certified in accordance with the ISO 14024:2000 standard. HITEC Luxembourg offers high technology solutions covering different business areas: satellite ground segment technology; customer specific and standard equipment for testing and measuring of physical properties; engineering; consulting; software & ICT development and project management. HITEC Luxembourg serves private and public sector customers at a national and international level. Its business objectives, as a specialized high technology provider are to achieve a strong sustainable market position; to expand its activities at an international level as well as to promote the Luxembourg site through the realization of innovative high quality value-added products and services. (http://www.hitec.lu - http://www.hitec-luxembourg.com ? www.disp-solution.com)   About SES           www.ses.com SES is a world-leading satellite operator with a fleet of 49 geostationary satellites. The company provides satellite communications services to broadcasters, content and internet service providers, mobile and fixed network operators and business and governmental organisations worldwide. SES stands for long-lasting business relationships, high-quality service and excellence in the broadcasting industry. The culturally diverse regional teams of SES are located around the globe and work closely with customers to meet their specific satellite bandwidth and service requirements. SES (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) holds participations in Ciel in Canada and QuetzSat in Mexico, as well as a strategic participation in satellite infrastructure start-up O3b Networks. Further information under: www.ses.com.   About SES TechCom S.A.          www.ses-astra.com/techcom SES TechCom is a wholly-owned SES company. SES TechCom customers enjoy access to the financial, technical and human assets and capabilities of SES. At the same time, SES TechCom as a stand-alone entity is flexible and adapts to the needs and focus of our customers? projects. SES TechCom provides tailored solutions in the fields of broadcast and media, broadband and data, earth observation and governmental systems and services. In these fields SES TechCom provides, tailored ground solutions, satellite ground services, fast worldwide disaster relief services and consultancy SES TechCom is an integral part of the overall SES value proposition. SES TechCom brings over 25 years of satellite communications experience and a commitment toquality and value for money to our customers. SES TechCom provides turnkey solutions to our customers that benefit from the excellence in program management and experience of the SES group   About Luxembourg Air Ambulance S.A.             www.lar.lu Luxembourg Air Ambulance S.A. (LAA) is a subsidiary of Luxembourg Air RescueA.s.b.l..  LAA is based at Luxembourg Airport where the company manages its hangars and offices. LAA is specialized in air -rescue and air -ambulance operations.  Its current fleet is composed of five rotary-wing aircraft MD 902 and five fixed-wing aircraft composed of two Learjet 45XR, two Learjet 35A and one Cessna Mustang. The rotor-wing operations are mainly exercised within the greater region of Grand Duchy while the fixed-wing operations are operated globally. All LAA aircraft are equipped as mobile intensive care unit and staffed with experienced emergency doctors and intensive care nurses. Thanks to LAA?s experience, it is able to dispatch its airplanes worldwide with short delay. LAA undertakes its own Part145 line maintenance facility at the International Airport of Luxembourg. Luxembourg Air Ambulance is ISO 9001:2008 certified.   About WFP           www.wfp.org The World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. In 2011 its aim is to reach more than 90 million people with food assistance in more than 70 countries. WFP is also the designated Global Emergency Telecommunications Cluster Lead Agency actively pursuing innovative and cutting-edge solutions, recognizing the critical role that information technology, communications and coordination now plays in effective humanitarian response About ETC              http://ictemergency.wfp.org The Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC) ensures timely, predictable, and effective provision of inter-agency telecommunications services in support of humanitarian operations (Clusters and humanitarian partners) from the onset of emergency crisis around the world. About Ericsson Response               www.ericsson.com/thecompany/press/mediakits/ericsson_response Ericsson Response is a volunteer initiative at Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) that deploys employees and telecom equipment to support partnering humanitarian organizations in times of disaster. Ericsson Response was founded in April 2000 at the request of company employees who wanted to use their experience and skills in disaster relief situations on a voluntary basis. Since then hundreds of Ericsson employees from all over the world have volunteered, been trained and deployed in various disaster relief operations.   About Skype Skype is a communications software whose purpose is to break down barriers to communication. With an Internet-connected device, families, friends and colleagues can get together for free with messaging, voice and video. At low cost, they can also call landlines or mobiles virtually anywhere in the world. Skype has recently introduced group video, allowing groups of more than two people to do things together whenever they're apart. Founded in 2003 and based in Luxembourg, Skype is a division of Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT). Skype can be downloaded onto computers, mobile phones and other connected devices for free at www.skype.com. You can get news and updates from Skype on its Blog: http://blogs.skype.com, Twitter: twitter.com/skype, or Facebook: www.facebook.com/skype