net.com and Atreus Systems Partner to Offer IP QoS Service Fulfillment and Delivery

net.com and Atreus Systems Partner to Offer IP QoS Service
Fulfillment and Delivery

Ottawa, ON, October 29, 2003 ? net.com (NYSE: NWK), a leading vendor of next generation BRAS technology to enable broadband service creation, and Atreus Systems?, a service definition and fulfillment leader for Internet protocol (IP) services and applications, today announced a strategic technology and marketing partnership to supply their carrier customers with quality of service (QoS) enabled IP service delivery systems for use in applications such as voice or data virtual private networks, video on demand, IP TV, bandwidth on demand, and content delivery.

The companies will combine net.com?s SCREAM service creation platform with Atreus? xAuthority Service Fulfillment operational support system (OSS) to simplify the creation, provisioning and management of advanced IP services. The combined hardware and software solution allows subscribers to self-provision services through a web portal, automatically driving changes to QoS, security, authentication, and policy enforcement.

?This partnership helps net.com fill a key component of the DSL Forum?s TR-59 specification for RBOCs and DSL service providers worldwide to move from commodity broadband to value added services like voice, video and gaming? said Pat Hurley, Broadband Analyst, TeleChoice. ?Atreus is a proven leader in advanced service fulfillment, as demonstrated by their existing deployments. Moreover, their strong relationships with industry leading systems integrators and OSS companies make them an ideal partner in the RBOC market.?

net.com?s SCREAM platform is a broadband remote access server (BRAS), compliant with DSL Forum Technical Requirement (TR) 59. Sitting at the edge of the network alongside the digital subscriber line access managers (DSLAMs), SCREAM converts the existing ADSL infrastructure from a ?best effort? medium into one that can offer dynamic tiered IP classes of service with performance guarantees. This in turn ensures that a subscriber gets the bandwidth and quality of service they require to enjoy the application being used, whether it is video conferencing, video on demand, interactive gaming or a similar application.

Atreus xAuthority? Portfolio is a proven service definition and fulfillment environment that empowers wireline and wireless service providers to quickly model, develop, deploy and deliver new IP services to market. Designed to scale to millions of subscribers, Atreus xAuthority?s modular and adaptable architecture gives customers the power to define and deploy new services within their existing network and OSS infrastructures. With Atreus xAuthority, customers integrate service offerings across a variety of equipment, technologies and computing/application resources. The solution is available with configurable service templates that address provisioning processes and service attributes for a variety of IP-based services, including managed firewall, virtual private networks, voice, bandwidth management and hosted applications.

?Service providers are making the switch to service-centric products and we are seeing interest in triple play applications that require tiered IP quality of service and class of service guarantees,? said Craig Forbes, Vice President of strategic initiatives, net.com. ?Atreus is a best-of-breed OSS provider for the IP world, and we are committed to working with them to provide our customers with a solution that matches the blueprint for the new architecture as specified by the carrier members of the DSL forum.?

?We?re pleased to partner with net.com. They offer a key network component capable of reliably handling interactive gaming, video, and other new applications at guaranteed quality of service levels,? said Len Castelli, Vice President of Business Development, Atreus Systems. ?Managing this myriad of services with today?s task-specific OSS is unworkable. Atreus xAuthority provides a flexible provisioning system to manage the delivery process, providing an umbrella to unify services. With this partnership, we have developed an interface to net.com?s SCREAM platform, ensuring that the services powered by their next-generation BRAS are provisioned and easily manageable.?

About net.com
Network Equipment Technologies, Inc., doing business as net.com, develops and delivers service creation platforms for broadband, Internet protocol telephony, and multiservice networks. An architect of the networking industry, net.com has been supplying service providers, governments and enterprises around the world with bullet-proof networking technology for more than 20 years. net performance. net results. net.com.

About Atreus Systems
Atreus Systems? is a service definition and fulfillment leader for Internet Protocol (IP) services and applications. Atreus' flagship products, Atreus xAuthority? Service Definition and Fulfillment Center for wireline and wireless service providers, and Atreus xAuthority? Identity and Provisioning Solution for government and commercial enterprises, help to reduce operational expenses and improve profits by automating the creation and delivery of IP services and applications. Atreus Systems is a privately held Delaware company financed by leading telecom venture capital firms Meritage Private Equity, SAIC Venture Capital Corporation, TELUS Ventures, Aliant, Inc, BDC Venture Capital, Mobius Venture Capital, Blueprint Ventures, and Skypoint Capital Corporation. For more information, visit the company's web site at atreus-systems.com or call (North America).