Alcatel Selected to Provide Pac-West With Infrastructure for Dial and Broadband Access Wholesaling.

Business Editors

STOCKTON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 21, 1999

Alcatel and Pac-West Telecomm Inc. today announced that Pac-West, a rapidly growing provider of integrated communications services in the western United States, has chosen Alcatel to provide an access and subscriber management solution necessary to augment its corporate voice/data business model.

The system will support Pac-West's dial and broadband access wholesaling to ISPs and corporate customers.

With its SuperPOPs and Alcatel's network infrastructure, Pac-West will be able to provide wholesale dial-up and broadband Internet access services to ISPs, and remote access outsourcing services to enterprise customers.

The solution is composed of Alcatel's X1600 multiservice access concentrator and the recently announced Alcatel A1135 SMC service management center.

The solution will power Pac-West's network of SuperPOP (point of presence) ISP and corporate access wholesaling facilities throughout the western United States, and will integrate completely with its existing network of Alcatel MegaHub 600E Tandem switches. When implemented, the Alcatel solution will offer 40,000 dial-up ports in five U.S. states.

"We are very pleased Pac-West has partnered with Alcatel for deployment of new wholesale dial and broadband (DSL) access services to its ISP and enterprise customers," said Bruce Barton, senior director of product line management for Alcatel's access server products. "Alcatel is leading the industry in providing complete POP solutions for network operators offering wholesale access services.

"Pac-West's deployment is a strong validation of our approach."

Pac-West will also be able to provide a total voice and data solution by coupling the X1600 and SMC platform with the Alcatel MegaHub 600E Tandem switches currently deployed in the Pac-West network. The integration of these two powerful platforms will enable Pac-West to achieve TDM/packet switch integration and allow voice and data calls to be transited across the data network.

"With Alcatel's technology in place in each SuperPOP, we can now offer our wholesale customers a virtual dial-up and broadband access footprint in a very standardized and cost-effective manner," said Jason Mills, vice president of network operations for Pac-West.

"The Alcatel solution provides all of the pieces, including integrated service and support, to quickly build and administer our SuperPOP regional access network."

The Access Wholesale Model

As an Internet access wholesaler, Pac-West is building a large Internet access network, which it then offers to ISPs and corporations that otherwise would need to build their own Internet access networks.

These ISPs can enter the market for V.90 56 Kbps and ISDN dial-up modem connections and consumer- and business-grade ADSL and SDSL packages at a fraction of normal start-up costs. This enables the retail ISPs to focus on marketing these services to consumers and businesses.

"ISPs and corporations need to focus on marketing their services, not building, financing and administering a widely distributed access network," Mills explained. "By providing and maintaining the access network, we enable service providers to focus their resources and expertise on marketing their services."

The complete POP solution will be used by Pac-West to:

--   offer Pac-West's ISP customers a virtual access network spanning
     a large geographic area;

--   perform networkwide proxy authentication, authorization and
     accounting (AAA) of dial-up and broadband users from a central
     location;

--   integrate with ISP customers' RADIUS/TACACS servers and allow
     them to pool IP addresses across the entire region for efficient
     IP address allocation;

--   route and track thousands of users to their host ISPs and
     corporations;

--   provide each ISP with its own view of their virtual access
     network including port utilization, subscriber profiles, and
     billing and accounting information.

About Alcatel

Alcatel builds next-generation networks, delivering integrated end-to-end voice and data communications solutions to established and new carriers, as well as enterprises and consumers worldwide. With 120,000 employees and sales of EURO 21.3 billion ($25.0 billion), Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries.

For more information, visit Alcatel at http://www.alcatel.com or the U.S. Web site at http://www.usa.alcatel.com.

About Pac-West

With headquarters in Stockton, Pac-West is a rapidly growing provider of integrated communications services to usage-intensive customers in the western United States, including Internet service providers (ISPs), small and medium businesses, and enhanced communications service providers.

Pac-West is a leading supplier of Internet infrastructure services to ISPs who can either collocate and maintain their own equipment at Pac-West's switching sites, or subscribe to an integrated managed modem service that includes access lines, modems, routers, authentication services and technical support.

In addition to local access lines, Pac-West offers ISPs a full suite of innovative services, including DSL, to help them attract and retain customers, generate new revenue streams, and differentiate their service offerings.

For the small and medium business market, Pac-West offers business customers the ease and convenience of one company and one bill for all their telecommunications needs. Through its exclusive Direct Digital Telephone Service (DDTS), Pac-West bundles an advanced digital phone system with local and long distance service, high-speed data transport and voice mail.

The entire package, including system design, installation and maintenance is offered on a monthly subscription basis and requires no capital expenditure.

To meet the growing demand for integrated and customized telecommunications services, Pac-West is expanding into other Western states, and expects to have operations in 10 Western states by the end of 2000.

The company's corporate office is at 4210 Coronado Ave., Stockton, 95204. Telephone 800-PAC-WEST (800/722-9378); Web site www.pacwest.com.