Riverstone Accelerates Network Convergence with Industry's Most Complete Ethernet Edge Router; New Functionality on the Riverstone 15008 Adds Services, Scalability, and Optimized Migration from Existing Networks

Business Wire, June 6, 2005

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Riverstone Networks (RSTN.PK) today announced enhancements to its popular Riverstone 15008 Ethernet Edge Router, including the addition of BGP/MPLS VPNs, IPv6 dynamic routing, and ATM and POS interfaces. With these enhancements, the Riverstone 15008 permits the convergence of residential triple-play and business services over a single Ethernet edge platform, while also providing an infrastructure for VoIP and mobility applications. Optimized for convergence over Ethernet, the Riverstone 15008's mass scalability, no-excuses reliability and cost advantages make it the industry's most complete edge router.

The new functionality of the Riverstone 15008 supports Layer 2 (also referred to as VPLS) and Layer 3 (also referred to as RFC 2547) MPLS VPN capabilities and interworking. This allows carriers to provide their enterprise customers with greater flexibility and choice, allowing them to use both VPN types and to employ the appropriate VPN service per specific location and need. Moreover, with both varieties of VPN capabilities on one platform, carriers can simplify their metropolitan networks and optimize their capital budgets and operating expenses to further enhance their competitive position.

IPv6 is another key element for future converged networks and is critical for scaling multimedia applications. As the need for broadband connectivity continues to rise, the Internet, currently based on IPv4, is running out of address capacity, especially in Asia where demand is growing the fastest and where IPv6 is a governmental mandate. The addition of IPv6 dynamic routing on the Riverstone 15008 allows service providers to literally expand their addressable market. The Riverstone 15008 is the only Ethernet edge router that can support IPv6 dynamic routing, permitting carriers to deploy networks today that are ready for tomorrow's expansion needs.

With the availability of ATM and POS interfaces, the 15008 Ethernet Edge Router continues Riverstone's acclaimed tradition of ATM/Ethernet interworking and accelerates the migration to the new Ethernet edge network. These interfaces allow service providers to quickly extend Ethernet services over their legacy ATM or SONET/SDH networks for immediate service availability and to aggregate ATM traffic coming from DSLAMs or other access network equipment over the new Ethernet services network.

"The Riverstone 15008 is used by carriers worldwide to build network infrastructure for Triple Play services, VoIP services and business VPNs," said David Ginsburg, Vice President, Marketing and Product Management, Riverstone Networks. "These service providers trust VPLS reliability and scalability and are leveraging it to converge these separate service networks onto a single Ethernet-based network infrastructure to simplify operations and cut costs."

First introduced in June 2004, the Riverstone 15008 is the only Ethernet edge router to employ a distributed and modular operating system and hardware architecture. It is able to deliver unmatched reliability, allowing the router to detect and restart errant protocols without affecting the rest of the system, dramatically reducing outages and reboots.

"Reliability is key to the successful introduction of multimedia services such as VoIP and IPTV, which require high availability and QoS to prevent garbled conversations, pixilated video or dropped programs," said Glen Hunt, Senior Analyst, Carrier Infrastructure, Current Analysis. "Riverstone's focus on VPLS and high availability features is the way to ensure uncompromised service delivery, which is mandatory in today's competitive environment. Service providers will need to meet or exceed the quality of experience their customers expect to grow their subscriber base, lower their customer churn or obtain the greater average revenue per user (ARPU) that multimedia services promote."

Riverstone Networks, Inc. (RSTN.PK) is a leading provider of carrier Ethernet infrastructure solutions for business and residential communications services. Riverstone's Ethernet router portfolio uniquely delivers the reliability that allows carriers to meet the triple play -- voice, video and data -- service requirements of their customers in a cost-effective and scalable way. Riverstone allows carriers to offer new services over existing revenue-generating networks permitting them to evolve to a next generation Ethernet infrastructure.

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release, including without limitation statements regarding the ability of carriers to use features available on the Riverstone 15008 to simplify their networks, and optimize capital budgets and operating expenses, and to expand their addressable market in the future using the IPv6 feature on the 15008 product, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include the possibility that technology and economic factors beyond Riverstone's control may limit the carriers' ability to simplify their networks, and reduce capital budgets and operating expenses, and the risk that carriers may not be able to reach the expanded addressable market created by IPv6 due to limitations in the carriers' marketing strategy, competition or other factors, along with those risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in Riverstone Networks' SEC reports, including the reports on Form 10-Q and Form 8-K filed on September 2, 2004. The company assumes no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements.