Contact Information: Media and Analyst Contacts: Erin Grohs Connect2 for MetaSwitch, Acme Packet +1.919.554.3532 x 5 egrohs@connect2comm.com Carol Daniels MetaSwitch +1.510.748.5368 chd@metaswitch.com Acme Packet Investor Relations: Brian Norris Acme Packet +1.781.328.4790 bnorris@acmepacket.com
Industry Momentum Grows Around Joint Acme Packet - MetaSwitch Solution for Carrier-Class Voice Over IP
Incumbent, Competitive and Municipal Service Providers Turn to Acme Packet and MetaSwitch to Deliver Secure, High-Quality IP Interactive Communications
| Source: MetaSwitch, Acme Packet
BURLINGTON, MA and ALAMEDA, CA--(Marketwire - June 17, 2008) - Acme Packet® (NASDAQ : APKT ), the leader in session border control solutions, and MetaSwitch, a
leading vendor of next-generation carrier switching and application
solutions, today announced that more than 35 service providers in North
America, Europe and the Caribbean have deployed a joint solution from the
companies to deliver advanced, trusted communications over carrier IP
networks. Encompassing incumbent, competitive and municipal service
providers, these customers include BTC Broadband, Independence Light &
Power, Telecommunications, POPP.com and TeleBarbados. The growing market
traction behind the Acme Packet - MetaSwitch solution is the result of an
established relationship between both companies, focused on ongoing
interoperability, closely coordinated customer support and joint sales
efforts.
BTC Broadband is an independent telecommunications company offering
cutting-edge broadband communications services to 8000 residents in and
around Tulsa, and other areas of northeastern Oklahoma. Using the latest
fiber-to-the-premises technology the integrated communications provider is
deploying a MetaSwitch class 4/5 softswitch to deliver hosted PBX services
to business customers, as well as SIP peering for long distance and
VoIP-based telephony services to residential subscribers. Acme Packet's
Net-Net session border controllers (SBCs) protect the core of the
MetaSwitch-powered network from denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, in
addition to offering access control and topology hiding. Acme Packet's SBCs
enabled BTC to quickly re-provision customers, which was critical in its
CALEA implementation for tracking and monitoring customers.
Independence Light & Power, Telecommunications (IL&P, T), the municipal
utility formed in 2000 for the city of Independence, Iowa, provides
residential and business customers of northeastern Iowa with innovative
telecommunication services. MetaSwitch's class 4/5 softswitch platform was
deployed in 2006, enabling IL&P, T to deliver advanced digital telephony
services like simultaneous ring, and find-me, follow-me to its subscribers.
With Acme Packet's Net-Net SBC, IL&P, T, secures and protects its
MetaSwitch core network, while leveraging control and maximizing the reach
of its VoIP services.
POPP.com, formerly POPP Telecom, is a competitive local exchange carrier
(CLEC) based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, offering voice, Internet and data
communications services to businesses in Minnesota's Twin Cities metro
area. POPP.com turned to MetaSwitch and Acme Packet to provide business
subscribers with hosted VoIP services, including automatic call
distribution. Based on MetaSwitch's core switching and application
platforms, POPP.com can offer subscribers advanced call-center features to
handle inbound telephony traffic. Acme Packet's Net-Net SBCs provide
critical security and control features, protecting the VoIP network and
maximizing service reach, as well as helping secure VoIP peering with other
service providers.
TeleBarbados was launched in 2006 as one of the first competitive operators
in the newly-liberalized telecommunications market in Barbados and it is
using products from Acme Packet and MetaSwitch to support its digital voice
services. The joint solution features MetaSwitch's class 5 softswitch
deployed within the datacenter to enable robust hosted business-grade voice
and data services and Acme Packet's SBCs to provide critical security
features for network protection, as well as hosted NAT traversal and
signaling protocol normalization to maximize service reach.
"We have worked extensively with MetaSwitch over the years to ensure
interoperability and smooth integration," said Seamus Hourihan, Acme
Packet's vice president of marketing and product management. "MetaSwitch's
next-generation switching platform and Acme Packet's session border
controllers provide a proven solution that addresses the challenges service
providers face as they migrate to VoIP and next generation networks."
Covering the full breadth of next-generation network elements -- including
core session control, media/signaling gateway, application server and
session border control functions -- the combination of Acme Packet Net-Net
SBCs and MetaSwitch products scales to meet the network migration
requirements of carriers of all sizes. Highlights of the joint solution
include a robust VoIP network security, thanks to Acme Packet's Net-SAFE®
security capabilities such as access control lists, call rate limiting and
topology hiding; support for true Class 5 features over both legacy TDM and
next-generation access in the MetaSwitch softswitch product line; and
enhanced IP-based services hosted on the MetaSphere application suite.
Service interoperability between Acme Packet and MetaSwitch services is
fully supported over both session initiation protocol (SIP), H.248, media
gateway control protocol (MGCP), and network-based call signaling (NCS),
with H.323 translation provided by the Acme Packet Net-Net SBC for
interoperability with legacy VoIP networks.
"Carriers of all kinds are looking to a new group of industry leaders to
work together to enable the delivery of cutting-edge services and enable
the migration to open IP application platforms," said Andy Randall,
MetaSwitch vice president of marketing. "The experience gathered from
hundreds of packet voice deployments puts MetaSwitch and Acme Packet ahead
of the previous generation of vendors who built the legacy networks that
are now reaching end of life."
About Acme Packet
Acme Packet, Inc. (NASDAQ : APKT ), the leader in session border control
solutions, enables the delivery of trusted, first class interactive
communications -- voice, video and multimedia sessions -- and data services
across IP network borders. Our Net-Net family of session border
controllers, multiservice security gateways and session routing proxies
supports multiple applications in service provider, large enterprise and
contact center networks -- from VoIP trunking to hosted enterprise and
residential services to fixed-mobile convergence. They satisfy critical
security, service assurance and regulatory requirements in wireline, cable
and wireless networks; and support multiple protocols -- SIP, H.323,
MGCP/NCS and H.248 -- and multiple border points -- interconnect, access
and data center. Our products have been selected by more than 500 customers
in 85 countries, including 29 of the top 30, and 84 of the top 100 service
providers in the world. For more information, contact us at +1
781.328.4400, or visit www.acmepacket.com.
About MetaSwitch
MetaSwitch is an industry-leading vendor of switching and applications
solutions for both packet and circuit-switched networks. Its MetaSphere
applications suite enables a broad set of hosted IP communications
services, while its core session control and media/signaling gateway
products support a full range of Class 4/5 softswitch capabilities. Customers
include many of the world's leading operators of wireline, wireless and
cable networks, with deployments that scale to millions of subscribers.
For more information, please visit www.metaswitch.com.
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forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the
Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of
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and advantages of our products, including any enhancements or new features,
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that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those
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our customer base, difficulties leveraging market opportunities,
difficulties providing solutions that meet the needs of customers, poor
product sales, long sales cycles, difficulty developing new products,
difficulty in relationships with vendors and partners, higher risk in
international operations, difficulty managing rapid growth, and increased
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