Business Services Industry

CommWorks IP Telephony System Surpasses 15 Billion Minutes of Voice Traffic

Business Wire, Feb 11, 2003

Business Editors

ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 11, 2003

Internet protocol (IP) telephony equipment from CommWorks, a 3Com Company (NASDAQ: COMS), has carried more than 15 billion minutes of voice traffic for service providers around the world, the company announced today.

The milestone was reached earlier this month, less than three years after the first commercial deployment of CommWorks(R) IP telephony equipment in April 2000. CommWorks IP telephony equipment is now carrying an estimated 985 million minutes of voice traffic each month for some of the world's largest and most progressive telecommunication service providers in the Americas, Asia and Europe.

"IP telephony is no longer viewed as a technology that is risky for wide-scale deployment," said Sudhakar Ramakrishna, vice president, CommWorks IP telephony and wireline data solutions. "Service providers are now looking to build on the infrastructure deployments they've made in recent years by adding new applications and features that take advantage of the efficiencies of IP networks. We are working with our customers on new solutions for IP Centrex, secondary line services, conferencing, other carrier-hosted business services, voice mail, and unified messaging."

The CommWorks IP telephony system is based on a three-tier architecture of media gateways; softswitch modules for signaling, call control and network management; and back-end servers. Each tier is interconnected by open standards-based protocols.

At tier one, Total Control(R) media gateways link the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) with packet networks. The gateway converts pulse code modulations (PCM) into voice packets, requests IP destination addresses, and passes signaling information to the local central offices at both ends of the call.

The CommWorks Softswitch works with these media gateways to provide end-to-end, carrier-grade IP-based communications. The softswitch operates in layers two and three of the architecture. At layer two, it provides media control and management, session control functions and multi-protocol PSTN/IP signaling. At layer three, the softswitch is responsible for critical network services, including accounting, authentication and rating, billing support, directory mapping, and Web provisioning.

CommWorks was recently named "VoIP Equipment Company of the Year" by the respected telecom industry analyst firm Frost & Sullivan. (Source: Frost & Sullivan 2003 Excellence in Information and Communication Technology Awards, January 15, 2003)

About CommWorks

CommWorks, a 3Com Company, supplies network service providers around the world with access infrastructures and IP services platforms that open new business opportunities and help them establish unique positions in a competitive marketplace. With flexible multi-service hardware platforms and modular software components, the comprehensive CommWorks architecture makes it possible for service providers to integrate their existing infrastructures with innovative technologies to deliver an array of next-generation IP-based enhanced services to their customers. For further information, visit www.commworks.com.

About 3Com Corporation

3Com is a tier-one provider of innovative, practical and high-value networking products for enterprises of all sizes and public sector organizations. 3Com is also a leader in providing Internet protocol (IP) service platforms and access infrastructure for network service providers. For further information, please visit www.3com.com, or the press site at www.3com.com/pressbox.> 3Com, CommWorks and Total Control are registered trademarks and the CommWorks logo is a trademark of 3Com Corporation.