1999 SONET Market Roars Past All Expectations; RHK First to Report on Explosive Growth in the SONET Market.

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 26, 1999--

According to telecom industry analysis firm RHK, 1999 North American spending on SONET systems will reach $7.3 billion by year end.

New research from RHK's SONET Transport & DCS service shows SONET continues to thrive in the network despite previous industry predictions that SONET spending would decline due to rapid migration of transport capability to other network elements. Growth in data and voice traffic and continuing network construction by new and established carriers are driving the demand for SONET network elements.

RHK finds the explosive growth in data and voice traffic is compelling operators to build higher capacity networks in order to compete. This growth has been seen among operators like Qwest, MCI, and AT&T who are expanding their networks to meet this increase in demand. Further influencing SONET spending is tremendous growth in private line traffic. Private line traffic is transferred through the network at lower speeds and then multiplexed into high-capacity trunks for carriage on the backbone. Only SONET provides this functionality today.

"As we interviewed service providers, they all indicated that traffic growth is exceeding their forecasts and expectations," observed Catherine Cook, analyst for RHK. "There has been much touting of the demise of SONET into other network elements. This is beginning to happen, but not as fast as the growth in bandwidth demand. SONET functionality and SONET network elements are going to be around in the network for a long time to come."

RHK's SONET Transport & DCS service is a continuous information service that provides clients with market and technology assessment, industry forecasts and profiles of vendors and service providers developing and implementing SONET products. For more information about this SONET spending forecast or for complete service information, please Mike Mahan at 650/737-9600 ext. 233.

Ryan Hankin Kent, Inc. (RHK) is the leading industry market research and consulting firm specializing in the analysis of advanced technologies for the public telecommunications network. The company provides subscription services and custom consulting to technology vendors, service providers and the investment community on North American and European markets.

RHK's areas of expertise include: Core Switching & Routing, SONET Transport & DCS, WDM & Optical Networking, Loop Access Systems (IAPs, NGDLC, xDSL, HFC and FITL), Edge Switching & Routing, New Voice Infrastructure, Cable Modems, Network Management Systems, Emerging Network Architectures, Optical Components, Internet Video and other emerging technologies. RHK is based in South San Francisco. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.rhk.com.