Actaris and Senea have set up a strategic partnership to
develop Automatic Meter Reading systems for electricity
utilities

Stockholm, December 19th, 2002 - Actaris, a worldwide leader in
electricity, gas, water and heat metering, and Senea AB, a Swedish
specialist in radio and PLC technology, announced today the creation of
a partnership to address the utilities' needs in the Scandinavian
electricity deregulated market.

Through this agreement, Actaris and Senea will combine their expertise
to provide innovative applications for the automatic reading of
electricity meters (AMR). As part of the arrangement, the Sales and
Project Management team managed by Actaris will jointly create with
SENEA a unique offering and propose one stop shop supporting Utilities's
AMR projects.

"Our leadership in developing technologies such as RF and PLC
applications complements the expertise of Actaris in metering" says
Annette Brodin Rampe, CEO Senea AB. "This is a good opportunity for
Scandinavian customers to benefit from this strong alliance and rely on
recognised experts in the field of metering systems."

"Thanks to the PLC systems already deployed in Europe and the size of
Actaris sales network, we will help our Scandinavian customers in
partnership with SENEA AB, the AMR reference in Sweden, to address this
promising market which is part of our strategy of development" comments
Gérard Gallez, Actaris Managing Director Electricity business line.

About Actaris
Actaris is a world-class supplier of meters, systems and services for
the electricity, gas, water and heat markets. It was created in 2001 to
carry out the LMBO of Resource Management Services, the metering
division of Schlumberger, backed by LBO France. Its mission consists of
delivering innovative products integrating the best-in class
technologies to energy and water distribution companies so as to enable
them better manage resources and strengthen their relationships with the
end-users. The group is active in more than 30 countries with a strong
presence in Europe, Asia and South America. With 7,000 employees,
Actaris' turnover for the year 2001 reached 750 million euros.

About Senea AB
SENEA AB is market leader in Norden for AMR-systems. Senea has so far
delivererd around 130 000 communication terminals. The customers are
network companies, energy companies and real estate companies that want
to develop their business with modern technique. Senea had a turnover in
2001 of 21 MSEK. Senea is listed...