DIRECTV Broadband, Inc. Chooses Juniper Networks for Residential Broadband Services Network Backbone

Business Wire, Oct 10, 2001

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 10, 2001

Significant Network Upgrade Benefits Customers with

Enhanced Performance and Scalability

Juniper Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq:JNPR), a leading provider of next-generation Internet Protocol (IP) infrastructure, today announced that DIRECTV Broadband, Inc. is deploying Juniper Networks M-series Internet backbone routers throughout its North American access network. DIRECTV Broadband, a nationwide provider of integrated broadband services to the residential market, is a subsidiary of the Hughes Electronics Corporation (NYSE:GMH).

With this significant network upgrade, DIRECTV Broadband's subscribers gain greater quality of service, performance and reliability for high-speed residential subscribers' access to Internet and residential broadband services. DIRECTV Broadband can lower the cost of network operations through the scalability inherent in Juniper Networks M-series routers. This scalability gives DIRECTV Broadband the flexibility to offer reliable network speeds up to OC-192c/STM-64 (10 Gigabits per second) to meet users' changing bandwidth requirements for data or video transmissions, without requiring hardware reconfiguration. This same network offers the company a long-term return on investment through its ability to expand and drive future value-added services, such as voice over IP and video on demand.

"DIRECTV Broadband is a survivor in the residential DSL marketplace, and one of the primary reasons we have survived the changing landscape in the DSL industry is our focus on lifestyle-enhancing services," said Ned Hayes, president and chief executive officer of DIRECTV Broadband. "It's critical that we offer our residential subscribers new, cutting-edge voice and data DSL services, and we chose Juniper Networks routers to advance both the network integrity and the performance for our subscribers as we expand our robust collection of value-added services."

DIRECTV Broadband is using numerous M160 Internet backbone routers to create a high-speed IP backbone at more than a dozen points of presence (POPs) throughout the United States. Additionally, the access portion of the network is leveraging JUNOS Internet software and Internet Processor II application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) packet processing intelligence in several M5 Internet backbone routers. These M5 routers act as peers throughout the DIRECTV Broadband network to enable traffic exchange with other Internet service providers (ISPs) in regional markets. The migration project is being handled by the Juniper Networks Professional Services organization, whose expertise in migrating multivendor, multiservice networks is being applied to ensure a fast and seamless deployment with minimal risk to DIRECTV Broadband's services.

"In order to maximize their value to subscribers, DSL providers will differentiate themselves through services that leverage the DSL connection within a home or business," said Adam Guglielmo, senior analyst at Telechoice, Inc., a leading telecommunications industry analyst firm. "The ability to provide these services with a strong and reliable network will become one of the most important factors for the success of DSL providers."

"As the service provider market consolidates, we see ISPs like DIRECTV Broadband deliver new, richer services to differentiate their IP infrastructure-based offerings," said Scott Kriens, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Juniper Networks. "DIRECTV Broadband and its customers will greatly benefit from the increased reliability and flexibility of its network provided by the Juniper Networks M-series infrastructure. These systems will help rapidly create and support new, intelligent Internet services at both the core and access portions of their network while gaining solid long-term cost of ownership benefits."

DIRECTV Broadband, formerly Telocity, was the first company to provide residential customers with a network-based, lifestyle-enhancing service when it launched its Connect & Protect(TM) package to subscribers last fall. Its residential broadband services, including Connect & Protect(TM) home networking capabilities, are enabled remotely by DIRECTV Broadband's backbone. Juniper Networks M-series routers will help DIRECTV Broadband maximize their value-added services business opportunity by providing a proven, high-performance platform to support subscribers' Internet needs.

By enhancing the backbone network's speed and providing new scalability to support up to OC-192c/STM-64 speeds, DIRECTV Broadband can rapidly launch new value-added services, such as video and voice, in the future. The M-series routers use a powerful combination of Internet Processor II ASIC silicon, robust hardware system design, and purpose-built JUNOS software to give DIRECTV Broadband the flexibility to quickly and easily turn on new services for their subscriber base. The company will incorporate Juniper Networks class-of-service capabilities across the network to separate different types of premium traffic, such as voice and video, for priority delivery to subscribers.