Vertel Announces Software License Sale to Samsung Electronics; Software Will Power 3G Wireless Network Equipment

Business Wire, Jan 22, 2002

Business Editors & High-Tech Writers

WOODLAND HILLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 22, 2002

Vertel Corporation (Nasdaq:VRTL), a leading provider of software that manages and helps run broadband, wireless and Internet networks, today announced that it sold e*ORB software licenses to Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. of Korea for use in their wireless network gateway project, in the fourth quarter of 2001.

e*ORB is the first middleware software product of its kind to combine the interoperability of the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) -- one of the most widely deployed middleware frameworks in enterprise computing -- with the performance, reliability and scalability required to develop and deploy integrated voice/data/video services over optical, IP and wireless networks. The e*ORB software will be embedded in Samsung's code division multiple access (CDMA) wireless network infrastructure gateway equipment.

"We believe that this is yet another demonstration of the power and flexibility of e*ORB," said Toni Graham, vice president and general manager of e*ORB. "e*ORB will make it possible for Samsung to rapidly deliver their bundled product offering to the market."

Samsung Electronics plans to develop value-added services on top of the basic IP gateway platform and will use the e*ORB software to integrate those services with the network infrastructure. This development will be specifically targeted towards the wireless CDMA2000 market, which is a third generation wireless technology that will offer high-speed data services, greater voice capacity and enhanced security. Samsung is a major global supplier of infrastructure equipment for wireless networks and took a leading role in the deployment of the world's first CDMA2000 1X network in Korea.

"e*ORB is an ideal CORBA platform for the telecom industry and we selected it as the base technology for our system integration architecture," said Mr. Chang Jeong-Sik, vice president of Samsung's Network Division. "We felt confident that we could rely on the performance of the software since Vertel is known for its quality product development and total support."

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductors, the consumer electronics industry, and digital convergence technology. Samsung employs approximately 66,000 people in 46 countries. The company is the world's largest producer of memory chips, TFT-LCDs, CDMA mobile phones and monitors and the sixth largest manufacturer of mobile phones. Samsung Electronics consists of four main business units: Digital Media, Semiconductor, Information & Communications, and Home Appliance Businesses. For more information, visit the Web site, http://samsungelectronics.com.

About Vertel

Vertel is a leading provider of middleware for the telecommunications industry. Vertel provides high performance, reliable middleware for connecting modern, distributed computing software. Vertel middleware provides software-to-software communication for connecting telecom management systems together, connecting the distributed software inside telecom network equipment and connecting the communication software of mobile devices such as hand-held PDAs with network based applications.

Vertel products are sold worldwide to network equipment manufacturers, service providers, software vendors and systems integrators. Vertel also offers WebResolve, our B2B exchange service that provides service assurance functionality to service providers. Vertel's product offerings are multi-technology and multi-vendor compatible for both telecommunications network management systems and for embedded agents for managing devices.

Vertel also develops turnkey management applications that fit individual customer requirements through its Professional Services Unit. The company is based in Woodland Hills, Calif. and has sales offices and distributors throughout the world.

For more information on Vertel or its products, contact Vertel at 21300 Victory Boulevard, Suite 700, Woodland Hills, Calif. 91367; telephone: 818/227-1400; fax: 818/598-0047 or visit www.vertel.com.

Note to Editors: Vertel, e*ORB and WebResolve are trademarks of Vertel Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Safe Harbor Statement: Except for the historical information presented, the matters discussed in this news release are forward looking statements and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. These uncertainties include factors that affect all businesses operating in a global market, as well as matters specific to the Company and the markets it serves. Particular risks and uncertainties facing the company at the present include the Company's ability, including financial ability, to continue to invest in research and development necessary for the development of new and existing products that are required to increase revenues; ability to access capital; the financial uncertainties associated with continuing losses; the timely and successful development of existing and new markets; the fact that some of our products are relatively new and, although we see developing market interest, it is difficult to predict sales for new products such as e*ORB, Mediation Framework, Object Management Frameworks and WebResolve and the market may or may not ultimately adopt these technologies; the length of the Company's sales cycle for most of its products, including e*ORB, Mediation Framework and Object Management Frameworks, making initial license sales and future royalties difficult to forecast; the severe impact that the slowdown in the U.S. economy has had on the telecommunications industry, forcing a number of service providers to cease operations and resulting in the cancellation or postponement of several transactions the company had in progress; additional difficulty in predicting royalty revenue because that revenue is dependent on successful development and deployment by our customers of our products; fluctuation from quarter to quarter in revenue from our professional service unit as a result of a limited number of large consulting contracts; loss of key customer, partner or alliance relationships and the possibility that the Company may not be able to replace the loss of a significant customer; the dependence on a limited number of customers for a significant portion of the Company's quarterly license revenues; size and timing of license fees closed during the quarter which may result in large swings in quarterly operating results and the likely continued significant percentage of quarterly revenues recorded in the last month of the quarter, frequently in the last weeks or even days of a quarter, which further adds to the difficulty of forecasting and leads to a substantial risk of variance from actual results; and the Company's ability to control expenditures at a level consistent with revenues.