UNH-IOL Expands Testing of DSL Products Engineered to Carry IPTV and Broadband Content; Spirent Communications Solution Supports VDSL2 Product Testing

Business Wire, May 8, 2006

DURHAM, N.H. -- The University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL) is expanding its DSL testing capabilities with VDSL2 testing supported by newly released tools from industry leader Spirent Communications.

The testing laboratory has employed Spirent's DLS V2A Integrated System, a physical-layer test setup including lab-grade wireline simulation and noise generation for testing VDSL2 technology. Spirent's test system addresses the growing demand for testing variants of DSL that can support high-bandwidth multimedia applications with integrated voice, data and video streams.

Service providers are looking to use these technologies to deliver bandwidth-heavy multimedia and high-speed data communications, such as IPTV and the "triple play" of voice, video and data, over existing copper telephone lines. Interoperability and conformance testing in the UNH-IOL's third-party lab can help these service providers, as well as network equipment manufacturers and chipset designers, speed delivery of reliable products and services to the market. The UNH-IOL DSL Consortium will use the Spirent test solutions to simulate North American loops and crosstalk models for VDSL2 systems up to 30Mhz, expanding upon the laboratory's current ADSL2/2 test capabilities.

The UNH-IOL DSL Consortium currently tests interoperability and conformance in ADSL (ANSI T.413-1998, ITU-T G.992.1, and G.992.2), DSL2 (ITU-T G.992.3 and ITU-T G.992.4), ADSL2 (ITU-T G.992.5), VDSL (ITU-T G.993.1) and VDSL 2 products. The consortium regularly hosts interoperability test events sponsored by industry associations.

"The industry is pushing DSL technology to new heights in an effort to transform our public communications network into a conduit for multimedia content, and for that reason testing in this area has never been more important," said Matthew J. Langlois, UNH-IOL DSL Consortium manager. "We want to apply a cooperative solution to the challenge of improving DSL data communications, where test equipment vendors, network equipment manufacturers and chip manufacturers can come together to work toward common goals."

For more information about product testing through the UNH-IOL's DSL Consortium and interoperability group tests, visit: www.iol.unh.edu/consortiums/dsl/.> About Spirent Communications

Spirent Communications (www.spirentcom.com) is a global provider of integrated performance analysis and service assurance systems that enable the development and deployment of next-generation networking technology such as Internet Telephony, broadband services, 3G wireless, global navigation satellite systems, and network security equipment. Spirent's solutions are used by more than 1,500 customers in 30 countries, including the world's largest equipment manufacturers, service providers, enterprises and governments. Based in Rockville, Maryland, Spirent Communications reported 2005 revenue of $403.3 million and has 1,700 employees worldwide. The company is the largest business group of Spirent plc, traded on the London and New York Stock Exchanges (LSE: SPT; NYSE: SPM; CUSIP number: 84856M209). www.spirent.com. Spirent Communications' sales to the United States government are made through Spirent Federal Systems. www.spirentfederal.com.

About the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory

Established in 1988, the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL) leads the industry in neutral third-party interoperability and conformance testing for data communications companies. For more information, visit the UNH-IOL website at: www.iol.unh.edu.