[February 15, 2005]

IPCC Establishes Wireless Wireline Convergence Working Group; Invites Industry Participation

FREMONT, Calif. --(Business Wire)-- Feb. 15, 2005 -- The International Packet Communications Consortium (IPCC) announced today the establishment of a new Working Group to define the reference architectures that will provide feature transparency and seamless mobility across wireline (DSL, Fiber, Cable), and wireless (3G, WiFi, WiMAX) networks. This Working Group was founded by the following IPCC members: Alcatel, Brooktrout, Cisco, Convedia, eLEC, Sonus, Tekelec, Time Warner Telecom, UTStarcom. For additional information on this Working Group, stop by Brooktrout's stand, F46B, Convedia's stand, F22, or Tekelec's stand, C19, at the 3GSM World Congress, February 14 - 17, 2005 in Cannes, France.

"We are at an inflection point in our industry as various packet wireline and wireless networks are converging," said Michael Khalilian, Chairman and President, International Packet Communications Consortium. "Together with new revenue opportunities, this creates a strong need to address critical technical and business issues. We established this working group to foster industry collaboration in order to find the best solutions in these critical areas in the least amount of time."

The IPCC's Wireless Wireline Convergence Working Group will focus on defining reference architectures for an access agnostic network that will provide feature transparency and seamless mobility across wireline broadband (DSL, Fiber, and Cable) and wireless media (2.5G, 3G, WiFi, WiMAX). Its work will include mobile handover between 2G/3G and WiFi/WiMAX and IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) within 3GPP. It will investigate other areas where efficiencies may be achieved in operations and capital costs. This working group will also liaise with the appropriate standards bodies such as ANSI, ETSI, IETF, 3GPP, and the DSL and WiMAX Forums to expedite the proposed reference architecture.

"To date we have received a tremendous response to this effort from our members and the industry at large," said Payam Maveddat, Co-chair Wireless Wireline Convergence Working Group and Assistant Vice President -- Next Gen Wireless Switching Solutions, at Tekelec. "We invite all interested parties to contact the IPCC to learn more about these activities. We look forward to helping the industry move forward with the adoption and deployment of fixed mobile convergence."

"As with our other Working Groups, the IPCC's Wireless Wireline Convergence Working Group will work to convert diverse standards and technologies into revenue generating services by simplifying reference architectures, interconnectivity rules, and management systems to meet real world service deployment requirements," said Farshid Mohammadi, Co-Chair, Wireless Wireline Convergence Working Group, Chair, IPCC Marketing Committee, and General Manager of Switching for North America and International at UTStarcom. "It will endeavor to drive alliances and consensus among industry forums, establishing joint working groups, steering major industry events and delivering unbiased advice to regulators, implementers, financial and industry analysts, and the media. The IPCC is an ideal organization to take on this work in fixed mobile convergence because of our members' leadership and packet communications and wireless markets."

The IPCC encourages service providers, vendors and enterprises interested in becoming involved with the Wireless Wireline Convergence Working Group to contact Michael Khalilian at: M.Khalilian@PacketComm.Org. The IPCC will provide updates on the progress of this Working Group on a regular basis via their web site, www.packetcomm.org, and via announcements to the industry.

About the International Packet Communications Consortium (IPCC)

The IPCC, also referred as the "Packet Communications Forum" is an international industry association dedicated to accelerating the deployment of VoIP, video over IP technologies and services over converged wireless, wireline, and cable broadband networks. The association is comprised of service providers, solutions providers, systems integrators, and government agencies translating industry standards into revenue generating services. IPCC members develop simpler, more cost effective technical frameworks for converged services in wireline, cable, 3G, WiFi, and WiMAX networks. The IPCC continues the groundbreaking work of the International Softswitch Consortium (ISC) founded in 1998. For additional information visit www.packetcomm.org.

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