China Unicom Deploys Acme Packet Session Border Controllers for NGN; Acme Packet and Alcatel Shanghai Bell enable tier one service provider to deploy secure, high-quality hosted IP services

Business Wire, March 29, 2005

BURLINGTON, Mass. -- Acme Packet(R) announced today that China Unicom, one of the largest service providers in China, is deploying the Net-Net(R) session border controllers in its national, multiservice converged network that connects residential and business customers all over China. The Net-Net products are being integrated with China Unicom's existing IP network and the next generation softswitch platform from Alcatel Shanghai Bell to offer more enhanced services. As China Unicom's main softswitch vendor and strategic partner of Acme Packet, Alcatel Shanghai Bell is a leading telecommunications infrastructure and solutions provider in Asia, claiming every service provider in China as its customer.

China Unicom owns and operates the world's largest VoIP network and is the first to reach and connect residential and business customers in over 300 cities throughout China. Deployment of Acme Packet's session border controllers is underway, with a target of nearly 50 cities to be installed over the next couple of months. Upon completion of the deployment, China Unicom will be able to expand its current service offering of VoIP and high speed data with secure, high-quality video conferencing and other multimedia IP services, all over its existing backbone infrastructure.

"Acme Packet's session border controllers interoperate seamlessly with our next generation softswitch platform to provide the ideal solution for China Unicom to enable new and more advanced IP services," commented Mr. Li Xiaoming, Director of China Unicom. "The company and product synergies between Acme Packet and Alcatel Shanghai Bell equal a winning combination for tier one service providers. The Net-Net products bring security and service assurance guarantees to our next generation softswitch platform, and both companies' strong focus on customer support and satisfaction ensure the success of providers such as China Unicom."

The Acme Packet session border controllers were selected for this massive network project in part due to their carrier-class capabilities such as high availability, capacity, performance and scalability. Security features like access control and network topology hiding help protect China Unicom's own network from attack while ensuring the highest quality services to the end user. Hosted NAT traversal and multiprotocol support with interworking functionality will be key features in the second phase of the project. These features will allow China Unicom to maximize its service reach and deliver hosted IP services to both business and residential subscribers without the need for additional equipment on the customer premise.

"Our selection by China Unicom as the supplier of session border controllers for this project reinforces our market leadership position and is a testament to our product capabilities, our global experience and our local expertise," stated Andy Ory, president and CEO, Acme Packet. "We have the utmost confidence in our ability to continue to work productively and effectively with Alcatel Shanghai Bell to enable China Unicom to develop and deliver profitable new services and successfully grow its business."

About Acme Packet

Acme Packet, the leader in session border control, enables service providers to deliver premium, interactive communications - voice, video and multimedia sessions - across IP network borders. Our Net-Net family has been selected by 9 of the top 10, and 16 of the top 25 service providers in the world to satisfy critical security, service assurance and law enforcement requirements in wireline, cable and wireless networks. These deployments support all applications - from trunking to hosted enterprise and residential services; all protocols - SIP, H.323, MGCP/NCS and H.248; and all border points - peering, access network and data center. For more information, contact us at 1 781.328.4400, or visit www.acmepacket.com