Press Releases
VOIP OUTFITTER™, NETERGY MICROELECTRONICS™ DRIVING VOIP IN GRANT COUNTY'S ZIPP NETWORK - FIRST PUD IN THE NATION TO BRING FIBER TO HOMES AND OFFICES
Netergy's Audacity™ VoIP Processors Chosen by both Telco Systems' and World Wide Packets' CPE Platforms for Washington State's Grant County's High-Speed Zipp Network
SANTA CLARA, CA - April 29, 2002 – VoIP outfitter, Netergy Microelectronics, Inc.™ (www.netergymicro.com), a subsidiary of 8x8, Inc. (NASDAQ:EGHT), announced today that its technology is driving the VoIP (voice-over-Internet-Protocol) in the nation's first public utility district fiber-to-the-home-and-office broadband network. Both World Wide Packets, in its LightningEdge™ Access Portal series and Telco Systems, in its EdgeGate CPE VoIP Platform, have chosen Netergy's VoIP Audacity™ processors for these products which have been purchased by Washington State's Grant County PUD for its glass fiber-to-the-home-and-office Zipp Network. The Zipp (Zealous Innovators of Public Power) Network will be bringing very high-speed (in excess of 500 Kbps), high-quality and cost-effective Internet access, IP telephony, video-on-demand and other broadband services to its residential, business and farm customers.
Netergy's Audacity-T2 VoIP processor is incorporated in Telco Systems' EdgeGateTM VoIP gateways, including the GW-230 and GW-280 series products. Netergy's Audacity-T2 and -T2U processors are incorporated in World Wide Packets' LightningEdge Access Portal series. Both Telco Systems and World Wide Packets have announced that Grant County PUD (www.gcpud.org) has purchased these products, powered by Netergy's VoIP technology, for Grant County's Zipp Network.
Telco Systems' EdgeGate CPE (customer premises equipment) family of products offer extremely cost-effective IP integrated voice and data solutions for the Small-Office, Home-Office (SOHO) and Small-to-Medium Enterprise (SME). World Wide Packets' LightningEdge Access Portal Series provides a gigabit of dedicated bandwidth for simultaneous transmission of voice, video and data. World Wide Packets' Gigabit Ethernet over fiber solution is designed to satisfy the growing demand for "last mile" bandwidth, scalability and longevity at the lowest total cost of ownership.
Kourosh Amiri, vice president of sales and marketing of Netergy Microelectronics, Inc. said, "Netergy is honored to have been chosen by leading broadband CPE equipment providers such as Telco Systems and World Wide Packets to provide the VoIP technology for their equipment, which has been purchased by Grant County PUD for the revolutionary fiber to the home and business Zipp Network. With 6,000 homes scheduled to be reached this year and 36,000 sites throughout central Washington when complete, Zipp will be a model for the nation and the world in deploying cost-effective high-speed Internet access, telephony and video-on-demand."
About Grant County's Zipp Network
The Zipp (Zealous Innovators of Public Power) Network will provide access to Internet Protocol (IP) telephone, digital video and high-speed Internet access for customers of Grant County's Public Utility District (www.gcpud.org) in Washington State. When complete it will cover 36,000 homes and businesses over 47,000 miles of fiber at an investment of $120 million. 6,000 homes are scheduled to be connected by the end of 2002. Grant County PUD is working to bring the Zipp Network to every home, business and farm in the county, which encompasses central Washington. Established as a consumer-owned utility in 1938, Grant County PUD is committed to reliable, low cost, power; first-class customer service; public safety; and environmental stewardship now and for future generations. The District is a major generating utility with two large hydroelectric developments on the Columbia River and two small generating plants on local irrigation canals. Electricity is sold on a nonprofit retail basis to Grant County residents and wholesale to utilities serving customers in seven Western and Northwestern states.
About Telco Systems
Based in Foxboro, Massachusetts, Telco Systems combines 25 years of experience in carrier solutions with a rapidly expanding portfolio of enterprise solutions. Telco Systems provides industry leading solutions for 10/100 Mbps and Gigabit Ethernet over fiber, VDSL solutions for the MTU/MDU market, the broadest possible range of multi-layer IP platforms and the company's EdgeLink family of integrated access, multi-service access and multi-service broadband transport products for seamless migration from circuit-based equipment to emerging packet and cell technologies. Telco Systems is a wholly owned subsidiary of BATM Advanced Communications. BATM (London stock exchange ticker symbol: BVC) is a worldwide leader in designing and supplying IP packet-based systems, such as high-capacity, self-routing switches with extensive QoS. For more information, please visit Telco Systems' web site at www.telco.com and BATM Advanced Communications' web site at www.batm.com.
About World Wide Packets
World Wide Packets (www.wwp.com) pioneered the adoption of Ethernet-based access networks. The company has become synonymous with solutions for "Fiber to the Subscriber®," "Ethernet to the Subscriber™" and "Ethernet in the First Mile." World Wide Packet's LightningEdge™ offering enables a single access platform for both business and residential subscribers, providing the most cost competitive broadband access solution for delivery of voice, video, and data services. World Wide Packets is a privately held corporation, established by Bernard Daines, founder of Packet Engines, Grand Junction Networks and Tidewater Associates.
About Netergy Microelectronics, Inc.
Netergy Microelectronics, Inc. (www.netergymicro.com), a subsidiary of 8x8, Inc. (NASDAQ: EGHT), is the only VoIP outfitter delivering comprehensive, field-proven, semiconductor, software and custom designs to OEMs. Netergy's ICs and software can be found at the core of next-generation packet telephony products, such as IP phones and fax hubs, broadband residential and enterprise gateways, voice-over-broadband modems, and integrated access devices. Netergy's customers and partners, including Alcatel (NYSE:ALA) and STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM), are serviced by offices in Silicon Valley and the U.K. For more information, contact Netergy Microelectronics at 2445 Mission College Blvd., Santa Clara, CA 95054 USA. Phone: 408.727.1212, fax: 408.980.0432 or email: info@netergymicro.com.
8x8 (www.8x8.com) and its subsidiaries provide video, voice and IP-based systems and technologies for converged telecommunications networks.
Contact
Grace Du Val
Director of Marketing
Netergy Microelectronics
408.727.1212
Grace.duval@netergymicro.com
Maxine Bingham
Principal
Agorá Marketing
408.375.7702
maxine@agorapr.com
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:
This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding among other things, the size of the deployment of the Zipp Network in Grant County, WA. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations, estimates and projections about our industry, management's beliefs and certain assumptions made by us. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and are based upon the information available to us at this time. Such information is subject to change, and we will not necessarily inform you of such changes. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, our actual results could differ materially and adversely from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. Such factors include the potential that the Zipp network could develop more slowly than anticipated or might not further develop at all. Further information on these and other factors that could affect Netergy Microelectronics' and 8x8, Inc.'s actual results are included in 8x8's Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2001 and other Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
Veracity, Audacity, VoIP (tech) outfitter(s), and Netergy Microelectronics are trademarks of Netergy Microelectronics, Inc. All other products and companies mentioned are trademarked by their respective companies.
