150 ISPs Pick Ariel Corp. Over Legacy Providers Like Cisco, 3Com and Lucent for Remote Access Technology; ISPs Save 50% On the Their Remote Access Equipment Costs.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

CRANBURY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 6, 2001

Ariel Corp. (Nasdaq:ADSP), a leading supplier of high-density Linux and Windows NT network access solutions for ISPs and technical OEMs, today announced that more than 150 ISPs have now selected its products to provide 56K/ISDN dial-up access.

Ariel's open architecture, award-winning network access equipment provides a low-cost, high-performance alternative to the proprietary remote access concentrators offered by legacy suppliers such as Cisco (Nasdaq:CSCO), 3Com (Nasdaq:COMS) and Lucent (NYSE:LU). Leveraging the power of the PC, Ariel's products give fast-growing ISPs from Florida to Somalia a flexible, inexpensive means of quickly deploying and expanding their 56K/ISDN dial-up service.

"We're pleased to hit the 150 milestone," said Dennis Schneider, president and chief executive officer of Ariel Corp. "With over 7000 ISPs in the U.S., we see significant opportunity to grow our business over the coming months. Increased adoption of Ariel's PowerPOP(TM) architecture and remote access solutions demonstrates growing awareness among ISPs about the inherent advantages of replacing dumb, proprietary remote access concentrators with smart POPs running Linux and Windows NT. Not only do PCs equipped with our 56K/ISDN PCI cards cost 50 percent less than proprietary solutions, they provide added intelligence that can be used to increase network efficiency."

"Ariel's open architecture PowerPOP solution enables us to save $100 per port and leverage our existing Windows NT expertise," remarked Jason Gilliam, managing partner at Earthmax, a Florida ISP. "The PowerPOP architecture's scalability also proved very attractive us. To accommodate new remote access customers, we simply add more Ariel RS4200 cards to our existing servers. In the future, the RS4200's programmability will enable us to expand into new service areas like voice-over-IP-VoIP and Fax-over-IP through simple software upgrades without changing existing hardware."

Veggon, a fast-growing ISP in San Juan, Puerto Rico, found the PowerPOP architecture invaluable for launching the first free ISP service in Puerto Rico. "Because our business model relies primarily on advertising revenue, containing equipment costs was essential for achieving profitability, particularly in the start-up phase," said Fernando Gonzalez, vice president of sales and marketing at Veggon. "Our new Windows NT systems, equipped Ariel's RS4200 cards, not only cost half that of comparable Lucent and Cisco systems, but enable us to implement functions like DNS, authentication, and email without having to purchase additional servers."

Somalia carrier Netco also turned to Ariel in order to launch Somalia's first ISP service. The new service not only gives Somalis access to the Internet, but also enables them to communicate with the one million expatriates who have fled war-torn Somalia and are now living in the U.S. The new service is also used extensively by foreigners traveling to Somalia and by international peace keeping and relief organizations such as the United Nations, UNESCO, and UNICEF.

"A PC solution was a must for Netco's Somalia service deployment," said Tony Vasquez, president of IC2000, the Florida ISP who installed Netco's ISP equipment. "Netco considered using Cisco equipment, but could not obtain the necessary installation and maintenance service. Selecting an NT solution based on Ariel's PowerPOP architecture and RS4200 cards enabled Netco to not only cut its remote access equipment costs in half, but gain easy access to spare parts, upgrades, maintenance and service personnel."

Ariel's PowerPOP architecture is a new approach to building ISP infrastructure that replaces dedicated servers and dumb remote access concentrators with open architecture Linux and NT systems. PowerPOP-architecture systems are ideal for ISPs who want to improve network performance and efficiency by deploying intelligent POPs that incorporate functions such as authentication, DNS, and Web caching. PowerPOP-architecture systems are also ideal for new ISPs who want to reduce up-front network operations center (NOC) equipment costs by consolidating functions and services like DNS, authentication, Web hosting, FTP, email, caching, and backup onto a single Linux or NT system.

Ariel's RS4200 and RS2000 PCI cards provide an out-of-the-box solution for adding high-density remote dial-in and LAN dial-out to Windows NT- and Linux-based systems utilizing the PowerPOP architecture. The RS4200, winner of Internet Telephony's Editors Choice Award, is a 96-port 56K/ISDN card set (two cards) that combines 96 V.90 modems with four T1/PRI (Primary Rate ISDN) interfaces. The RS4200 provides up to 120 ports of 56K and Basic Rate ISDN remote access. The RS2000 is a 24-port 56K/ISDN solution on a single PCI card that combines 24 56K modems with a T1/PRI interface. Both the RS4200 and RS2000 provide a scalable remote access solution that costs $100 less per port than proprietary solutions from Cisco or Lucent.

Ariel's revolutionary SS7-enabled BypaSS7 network access system, winner of Internet Telephony's Product of the Year for remote access in 2000, extends the cost savings provided by the PowerPOP architecture and Ariel's network access cards. The innovative system, working in conjunction with PowerPOP-architecture PCs equipped with Ariel's cards, reduces equipment and operational costs by enabling ISPs and CLECs to provide Internet access while circumventing end-office class 5 switches.

For more information on Ariel products, please contact Ariel Corp. at 2540 Route 130, Cranbury, NJ 08512. Phone [phone]. Fax [phone]. Email: [e-mail]. World Wide Web: www.ariel.com.

More on Ariel

Ariel Corp. (Nasdaq:ADSP) is a leading provider of high-density, SS7-enabled dial-up access equipment for applications such as Internet access, corporate Intranet/Extranet access, on-line services, telecommuting, transaction processing and unified messaging. Ariel's dial-up access concentrator products make it easy for ISPs and OEMs targeting ISPs and other service providers to create high-density dial-up solutions using open systems platforms running a variety of popular operating systems, including Windows NT and Linux.

Statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts are forward looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including market acceptance of the company's products by technical original equipment manufacturers and internet service providers, the timely development and acceptance of new products, the impact of competitive products and pricing, changing market conditions and the other risks detailed from time to time in the company's filings with the SEC. These risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or currently expected. These forward-looking statements represent the Company's judgment as of the date of this release. The company disclaims, however, any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.