MetaSwitch Press Release: MetaSwitch Deploys 200th Switch at BroadRiver, Invests for Future Growth

Alameda, CA: February 28, 2006. MetaSwitch, a leading provider of carrier-class switching and applications solutions, today announced that it has passed a significant milestone in its emergence as a major industry player with the delivery of its 200th Class 4/5 switching system to Atlanta-based competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC), BroadRiver Communication Corporation. The news underscores MetaSwitch's rapid growth - total deployments have doubled in less than 10 months - confirming recent independent analyst findings that the vendor has established a market leadership position. To secure this position, MetaSwitch has undertaken a broad investment program to bolster its organization for current and future expansion.

BroadRiver selected the MetaSwitch solution, incorporating CA9020 call agent, MG3510 media gateway and UC9000 application server, for three key reasons. First, in order to continue growing with capabilities such as hosted voice over IP services, the carrier needed to address the scalability and functionality limitations of its existing next generation Class 4/5 switch. Second, an opportunity arose to expand into residential services over a partner's cable network, so support for PacketCable Network-based Call Signaling (NCS) was crucial. Finally, BroadRiver was looking for a stable partner that could support the installation for many years to come. MetaSwitch was the best fit in all three areas.

"BroadRiver was one of the first carriers to build a network on a softswitch platform back in the late-90s, so we have a pretty good understanding of what it takes to be successful with this technology," commented Michael Oken, BroadRiver's Chief Technology Officer. "MetaSwitch is head and shoulders above the other vendors we looked at in terms of product capabilities and their ability to provide us with support to ensure our success. There is also a significant 'comfort factor' in knowing that, with more than 200 systems like ours now deployed in the network, MetaSwitch is committed to the market for the long term."

"We are very excited at the momentum that is building behind MetaSwitch," said John Lazar, MetaSwitch Chief Executive Officer. "Our selection by BroadRiver, and more than 145 other service providers, is a testament to our superior technology and focus on customer support. It also validates our 25-year commitment to build a sustainable, long-term business, so that we can maintain our ongoing investment in technology and support for the benefit of our customers."

Last September, a survey of North American independent and competitive service providers by Wall Street research firm Robert W. Baird & Co. rated MetaSwitch that market sector's leading softswitch, as measured by carriers' deployment intentions over the next 24 months. Since then, MetaSwitch has shipped an additional 48 switching systems, and reported annual revenues for 2005 of $30 Million, confirming the Baird report findings and establishing MetaSwitch as parent company Data Connection's largest strategic business area, representing 40% of total company revenues.

Building on this success and projections for future growth, MetaSwitch's ongoing investment program covers every area of the organization, including engineering, support, operations, sales, marketing and business development. Specific highlights include: a doubling in size of its US support team over the past year; increased emphasis on the delivery of complete end-to-end network solutions, based on expansion of the MetaSwitch partnership and interoperability program in new lab facilities in California; the establishment of a nationwide professional services team, staffed by experienced engineers and project managers, to help streamline customer deployments; major internal investment in tools and processes to better support a fast expanding customer base; and ongoing development of its customer training capacity, with a range of new courses in the pipeline. As service providers increasingly look for strong partners to help them through the migration to next generation networks, MetaSwitch is primed for further success based on its strengthened organizational fabric.

Since 1987, BroadRiver has evolved from a hardware vendor and IT support company to a complete voice, data and hosting services provider. BroadRiver utilizes state-of-the-art technology partners, such as Cisco, Compaq, Lucent, MetaSwitch and Nortel to deliver an ever-expanding line of services, including VoIP. On the web: www.broadriver.com.

MetaSwitch (www.metaswitch.com) is an industry-leading vendor of IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) switching and applications solutions for both packet and circuit-switched networks. Its widely deployed call agent, media/signaling gateway and application server platform supports a full range of legacy Class 4/5 capabilities and hosted unified communications services, and scales from a few hundred to millions of subscribers in both integrated and distributed configurations. Customers include incumbent and competitive local exchange carriers, as well as operators of broadband wireless, cable and fiber networks.

MetaSwitch is a division of established telecom technology provider Data Connection. The company is consistently profitable and privately held, with main US offices in California and Virginia, and European headquarters in London, UK.

Data Connection and MetaSwitch are trademarks of Data Connection Limited and Data Connection Corporation. Brands and products referenced herein are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.