ACT Networks Unveils ServiceXchange IP Telephony Gateways; Packet Telephony Pioneer Breaks Industry's Cost and Density Models.

CAMARILLO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 23, 1998--ACT Networks Inc. (Nasdaq:ANET) Monday announced that it will roll out a family of highly scalable, H.323-compliant, IP telephony gateways priced below $350 per voice channel.

"We are pleased to be delivering the carrier component of ACT's Unified Access Architecture (UAA)," commented Martin Shum, chairman, president and chief executive officer of ACT Networks. "Service providers can generate new revenue streams immediately by deploying ServiceXchange systems in their domestic and international networks."

ServiceXchange Platforms

ACT's SX-series gateways are designed for high-density packet telephony, fax and data applications over IP and frame relay-based wide area networks and the public switched telephone network (PSTN).

The SX-10, the entry-level product of the ServiceXchange series, is an ultra compact unit measuring 2U in height. It has four V.35/V.11 serial ports, one 10/100 auto-sensing Ethernet port and four RJ48 line interfaces for an aggregate throughput of 96/120 simultaneous calls (4xT1/E1).

The SX-10 is intended for deployment in the customer premises in a tabletop version, and at the service provider's point of presence in a rack-mounted configuration.

The SX-120 is a 7U-high frame that houses 14 expansion modules. High-density voice expansion cards can be installed in various configurations, depending on traffic volume, up to a maximum of 96 T1/E1 channels or 2304/2880 simultaneous calls.

The SX-120 is designed as an NEBS-compliant, telco-grade device. It is equipped with redundant uplink and management cards and four-port 10/100 Ethernet cards. It is intended for the provisioning of high-volume packet telephony and fax services in a variety of carrier environments that will require high-speed DS-3 and OC-3 uplink modules.

The SX-600, the highest density system of the ServiceXchange line, is designed to be plug-compatible with the SX-120 expansion modules and supports greater voice processing than its siblings -- 480 T1/E1 channels for an aggregate throughput of 11,500/14,400 calls.

The SX-600 will be deployed in large telco environments that intend to offer multimedia applications as well as packet-based voice and fax services to consumers and business customers.

"IP telephony is an extension of ACT's core competencies in wide area packet telephony and voice over frame relay," said Andre de Fusco, ACT's vice president responsible for the company's ServiceXchange program.

"Voice over IP/Internet is drawing a lot of attention because of the savings on long-distance and international calls," he continued. "ServiceXchange has been designed to meet this demand and also to support the mixed media collaborative computing applications that will soon be available thanks to the convergence of voice and data networking and the deployment of high-speed access technologies such as xDSL."

All ServiceXchange systems share the same high-performance software and will be provisioned in standard-compliant configurations, including H.323 (gateway and gatekeeper) and frame relay RFC-1490.

ServiceXchange features a new ACT digital signal processing (DSP) architecture that affords the platform extreme flexibility in supporting a variety of speech codecs that best meet the specific needs of carrier or enterprise customers.

ACT's considerable experience in speech compression coupled with ServiceXchange's new high-density DSP architecture will translate into tangible financial benefits for service providers.

The ServiceXchange SX-10 will be in controlled distribution until the end of the second quarter (calendar 1998). The SX-120 is planned to be generally available in the fourth quarter. ACT will participate in Jeff Pulver's Voice On the Net (VON) Conference in San Jose, Calif. (March 30-April 2); the N+I InterOp trade show in Las Vegas (May 4-8); and the SuperComm trade show in Atlanta (June 8-11).

About ACT Networks Inc.

ACT Networks develops, manufactures and markets fast packet wide area network access products that support a broad range of voice, data and integrated network applications. ACT is focused on three strategic markets: enterprise networks (NetPerformer), satellite networks (SkyFrame) and carrier networks (ServiceXchange and Dynastar). ACT is also the architect of Unified Access Architecture, a network system implementation.

End users and service providers worldwide use the company's products to build cost-effective, bandwidth efficient, easy-to-manage wide area networks (WANs). For more information, visit ACT's Web site at [e-mail]. -0-

This news release may contain forward-looking statements regarding future events and future financial performance of the company. These statements are only predictions and actual events or results may differ materially as a result of a number of factors including, without limitation, the factors discussed in the company's last reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q under "Risk Factors" and the risks associated with the possibility that the market for the company's products will not continue to develop or that the company's products and capabilities will not address emerging market needs; the effect of increased competition; changing technologies, product obsolescence and new product developments; the loss of significant customers; the company's ability to effectively integrate acquisitions; the company's ability to manage its growth; international sales, tariff and regulatory matters; reliance on third-party suppliers and on resellers for distributing its products; and the company's ability to retain key personnel and to adequately protect its proprietary technology

CONTACT: ACT Networks Inc.

Andre de Fusco, 818/735-3500

or

Tony Fisch Consulting

Tony Fisch, 818/501-6608