ICG Communications Licenses Bridgewater Systems' Software to Maximize Dial-up Wholesale Business Revenue

Business Wire, July 15, 2002

Business/Technology Editors

Access Control Modules Include IP Address Manager, AAA Service

Controller, Revenue Collector, Revenue Formatter,

Port Quota Controller

Bridgewater Systems, a provider of access control and revenue focused solutions for service providers, today announced that ICG Communications Inc. has licensed and gone live with the latest version of Bridgewater Systems'(TM) software solution for industry-leading network, application and Internet service providers.

Bridgewater Systems installed and configured a distribution of 15 ICG servers. The implementation and testing period involving live customer traffic on ICG's network met deployment standards and enabled ICG to maintain customer service and provide a structure for planned growth.

ICG Communications, Inc. is a communications provider with a nationwide data and voice network, operating in more than 25 major metropolitan areas. ICG specializes in managed modem service to the top ISPs as well as regional and local players across the U.S. ICG's signature products include broadband, dial-up Internet access, Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) and voice and Internet Protocol (IP) solutions, and fiber optic transport services. Bridgewater's products are ideally suited for service providers like ICG that require a system that scales easily to meet expanding and diverse business needs; controls network usage, allocates usage and plans for future requirements.

"Bridgewater's feature rich solution and ease of implementation enables ICG to expand revenue opportunities by broadening our service offering," said Michael Kallet, executive vice president, operations and chief technology officer for ICG. "Moreover, its scalability and rich accounting functionality complement ICG's network platform. Bridgewater has demonstrated that it understands both the dial-up wholesale market and our own business model. We see Bridgewater's software as a critical revenue generating component for us and a strategic component of our network."

Licensed modules include Bridgewater's newly released IP Address Manager, which manages, assigns and reclaims IP addresses required by dial, DSL and mobile sessions, reducing the number of IP Addresses required and centralizing management.

Other licensed modules include:

-- AAA Service Controller provides authentication, authorization and account management for user access to dial-up Internet Service Providers (ISP), wireless data and DSL networks.

-- Revenue Collector produces user session records for rating, billing and clearing systems ensuring all revenues are collected and reducing accounting data volume by a factor of five.

-- Revenue Formatter filters, formats and streams user session records to the appropriate external billing system ensuring consistency and accuracy of records.

-- Port Quota Controller allows service providers to dedicate a specific number of logical ports to each customer, avoiding customer monopolization of network resources.

Bridgewater's solution allows ICG to maximize utilization of its network resources. Its distributed network design provides ICG with redundancy and cost savings for its managed modem services.

The solutions' distributed network design provides customers with redundancy and cost savings, which are achieved by eliminating the need to over-provision network centers with more ports than are absolutely necessary. Bridgewater also provides operational efficiencies by providing a higher port utilization rate and by enabling its customers to manage their customers more efficiently by referring to detailed accounting records that are located on a centralized accounting server - and not distributed over the entire network.

"ICG recognized that there is more to a AAA solution than just a RADIUS server," said Derek Smyth, CEO of Bridgewater Systems. "Our solution provides the industry's most robust AAA functionality coupled with a solution suite that provides enhanced revenue and SLA management components allowing a service provider like ICG to manage its business - not its network. Bridgewater is looking forward to working with ICG as it continues to explore new service offerings in the wholesale market."

About ICG Communications

ICG Communications, Inc. is a premiere provider with a nationwide data and voice network, operating switches in more than 25 major metropolitan areas including San Francisco, Dallas, Cleveland and Washington, D.C. ICG provides communications solutions to approximately 6,000 customers including Internet service providers (ISPs), interexchange carriers and corporate customers with medium to large businesses. For more information about ICG Communications, visit the company's Web site at http://www.icgcom.com.

About Bridgewater Systems (www.bridgewatersystems.com)

Bridgewater Systems provides access control and revenue focussed solutions that enable service providers to maximize the revenue potential of their networks. The company develops highly scalable solutions that lie at the core of service providers' network and revenue generation activities. Its software enables service providers to differentiate access to wireline and wireless services based on the identity of the user or the application, solving problems such as how to comprehensively account and track for services and prevent unauthorized access. Unlike competitive offerings, Bridgewater's solutions work within any vendor network, regardless of the type of authentication system; offer extensive accounting capabilities to complement existing billing engines; and can be rapidly deployed. These differentiators enable customers to reduce network costs, increase revenues and rapidly deploy new customer-focused services. Founded in 1997, the privately held company's software is licensed by top-tier global service providers, including Bell Mobility, PowerNet Global, and Covad.