Sonus Establishes European Headquarters in UK; Introduces European Capabilities for Packet Telephony Suite 

WESTFORD, Mass., March 14, 2000 – Sonus Networks, a leading provider of voice infrastructure products for the new public network, today announced its expansion into the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) market. The company has established its EMEA headquarters in the United Kingdom (UK) and has appointed carrier industry executive Barry Bonnett as vice president, EMEA sales, to lead Sonus' EMEA organization. Sonus also announced that it is now shipping its Packet Telephony suite in Europe, including new international capabilities for the award-winning GSX9000TM Open Services Switch. 

Sonus' new operations will serve the rapidly growing EMEA service provider market, including next-generation carriers, as well as established service providers throughout Europe. Sonus' expanded international presence will enable the company to support its current customers, such as Global Crossing, as they build global, next-generation voice infrastructures. 

"As we're seeing elsewhere in the world, the European service provider market is beginning to embrace packet telephony as the technology of choice for building next-generation voice infrastructures," said Hassan Ahmed, Sonus' president and CEO. "Our new EMEA operations position us to meet the growing demand for innovative solutions that enable carriers to easily and rapidly deploy enhanced, revenue-generating services on a worldwide basis." 

The company's EMEA headquarters will be based in the London area and will serve the entire EMEA region, with local resources being added in appropriate geographic locations. Barry Bonnett, who has been named vice president, EMEA, will lead Sonus' European operations, which includes all sales, technical support, professional services, marketing and administrative functions. Bonnett brings to Sonus considerable experience in the service provider market, having worked most recently at British Telecom. As the general manager for BT Corporate Clients, he oversaw a 400 member staff and built a $750 million business. Prior to this, Bonnett was business manager for Global Finance at BT Syncordia Services and general manager for UK and Ireland at SITA Group. 

Sonus Packet Telephony Suite Now Available in EMEA

Sonus offers a complete packet telephony suite, featuring the GSX9000 Open Services Switch, PSX6000TM SoftSwitch, SGX2000TM SS7 Signaling Gateway and System 9200TM Internet offload solution, that satisfies the stringent requirements of public carrier networks for interconnectivity, capacity, reliability, scalability and voice quality. Moreover, Sonus' Open Services ArchitectureTM (OSA) provides a unique, open approach through which new services can be created easily and implemented quickly. 

In conjunction with its EMEA launch, Sonus introduced the European availability of its Packet Telephony suite and announced enhancements to the GSX9000 and SGX2000 products. Sonus has introduced a new E1 module for the GSX9000 Open Services Switch. Shipping now, this new hardware interface provides connectivity for carriers in European countries, enabling these service providers to make the transition from traditional circuit-switched infrastructures to new packet-based voice networks. 

Additionally, Sonus announced new functionality for its SGX2000 SS7 Signaling Gateway, a critical component that provides seamless interconnection between the standard telephone network and elements of the Sonus Packet Telephony suite. With the SGX2000, legacy circuit switches can interact with Sonus GSX9000 switches using the same SS7 signaling methods they would use with other circuit switches. This compatibility allows carriers to preserve their investment in existing infrastructure and to offer customers the full range of traditional PSTN facilities. Beginning in April, Sonus will be fully compliant with the standard ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) Version 2 SS7 signaling, providing for complete integration in European carrier infrastructures. 

About Sonus Networks

Sonus Networks, Inc. is a leading provider of voice infrastructure products for the new public network. Sonus' solutions enable service providers to deploy an integrated network capable of carrying both voice and data traffic, and to deliver a range of innovative, new services. The award-winning Sonus Packet Telephony suite and Open Services Architecture (OSA) cut the time-to-market for competitive new service products, allowing carriers and third-party developers to sustain and expand marketshare, and build important new revenue streams. Its highly scalable products fully interoperate with and extend the life and utility of today's public network. Sonus embodies in its management and staff decades of experience in developing carrier-class solutions at companies such as Cisco Systems, Lucent Technologies, and Nortel Networks. Sonus, founded in 1997, is headquartered in Westford, Massachusetts and is privately held. Additional information is available at http://www.sonusnet.com. 

GSX9000, PSX6000, SGX2000, System 9200 and Open Services Architecture are trademarks of Sonus Networks. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.