MetaSwitch Establishes Canadian Presence and Immediate Market Leadership with 6 Customer Wins

Toronto, Ontario: April 20, 2005. MetaSwitch, the industry-leading vendor of carrier-class softswitch solutions, today announced at VON Canada that it has expanded its business focus into Canada, building on its market leadership position in the United States. Since the start of the year, MetaSwitch has already signed up 6 independent telephone companies - 15% of the 40 registered by the Canadian telecommunications regulator (CRTC) - with more expected over the coming months.

With full support for legacy Canadian telecom standards and next generation protocols, MetaSwitch's Class 5 Softswitch solution is particularly suited to all Canadian service providers looking to introduce VoIP services, or migrate from legacy TDM-based networks. Those who have already selected MetaSwitch include Execulink and Nexicom, both based in Ontario. In addition, four other independent telephone companies in the same province have also signed contracts with installations due in the coming weeks.

"We are excited to be leading the wave of telephone companies moving to a next generation network," said Ian Stevens, COO of Execulink and President of the Canadian Independent Telephone Association (CITA). "MetaSwitch was the clear choice for us, based on their ability to deliver the reliability and legacy features we required, while offering new, packet-based services to our subscribers that are essential to compete in today's telecommunications environment."

John Downs, General Manager of Nexicom, stated that "MetaSwitch's breadth of support for TDM and VoIP services is unique in the softswitch industry. It is allowing Nexicom to add web-based services to our existing analogue telephone users while providing a powerful platform to launch VoIP Telephony services to our DSL and Cable customers."

"MetaSwitch has built a solid track record for Class 5 replacement in the U.S. independent operator market, and they have quickly established a leadership position in Canada," said Jon Arnold, Principal of Toronto-based J Arnold Associates. "These operators understand the potential of IP, and recognize that Class 5 replacement is the best strategy to deliver new services and maintain growth in an increasingly competitive market."

As part of its expansion strategy, MetaSwitch has appointed industry veteran Stephen Barnes as Regional Director heading up the Canadian Sales team. Stephen brings a wealth of experience to the MetaSwitch team from his previous roles with Santera Systems / Tekelec and Lucent Technologies.

"We are pleased with our recent success in Canada and committed to that market as part of our North American focus and growth strategy," said Mike Ward, MetaSwitch Senior Vice President of Sales. "As our immediate success demonstrates, there is strong demand among Canadian telcos for a full-featured, next-generation switching solution that was previously not being met."

About MetaSwitch

MetaSwitch is the industry's leading vendor of packet-based Class 5 softswitch and enhanced applications solutions. Its widely deployed call agent, media/signaling gateway and application server platform supports over 100 Class 5 features including CLASS services, IP Centrex, Unified Messaging, E911, LNP, 1-800 and CALEA, and scales from a few hundred to half a million 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 (DCL). The company is consistently profitable and privately held, with US locations in California, Virginia, Texas and Florida, 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.