Apogee Networks Introduces Industry's First Content Usage-Based Billing Solution for Web Hosters.

Business Editors

SADDLE BROOK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 8, 2001

NetCountant(R) Web Hosting Billing Integrated with Major

Networking Hardware 

Apogee Networks, the global provider of Content, and IP Rating, Billing and Settlement solutions, today announced the industry's first billing application for the web hosting environment.

Apogee Networks' NetCountant(R) Web Hosting Billing solution enables web hosters to create content usage-based billing and bandwidth management billing services, thus enabling service providers to rapidly adopt and deploy new revenue models.

NetCountant Web Hosting Billing solution enables customers to easily define new services and rapidly create new pricing plans that identify content by type and bill for it based on usage. Additionally, flexible content definition that utilizes business rules supported by the solution, enables the creation of complex pricing plans in hours or days as opposed to weeks or even months. It also enables new revenue-generating services based on content-fulfillment, surge capacity, URL, specific content type and type of equipment used.

Furthermore, the solution enables web hosters to leverage the bandwidth capabilities of the network. A web hoster can assign limits for the switch or a tiered pricing plan approach for bandwidth usage. This can be further extended to where "co-lo" arrangements exist for a customer as well as a managed solution for multiple customers by a switch. In either case, NetCountant Web Hosting Billing enables customers to be billed for bandwidth usage.

"Content is the value proposition of the Internet," said Doug Ashton, Managing Director at Bear Stearns. "There are countless types of content crossing the World Wide Web with different perceived values every minute of every day. In order to leverage all of the revenue opportunities, web hosters require scalable and flexible billing and settlement solutions. Apogee Networks' solutions enable web hosters to create billing services that generate new business and revenue models by recouping costs from Web traffic."

NetCountant Web Hosting Billing is easily integrated with some of the industry's premier networking leaders, including Cisco, Nortel and F5 to enable web hosters and the service provider community the ability to offer bundled solutions that enable rapid creation and deployment of new differentiated services. These new services include content usage-based billing, performance billing, content provider's customer type billing and bandwidth management billing.

"Customers are able to meet the needs of a dynamic market without the need for extensive professional services or prolonged deployment time," noted Apogee Networks' President and COO, Tom Goldman. "The solutions is a simple "plug and play" format enabling a web hoster the ability to offer a sophisticated set of new services. NetCountant Web Hosting Billing is scalable to the demanding needs of the Internet and flexible enough to provide a web hoster with a rapid design and implementation cycle, thus enabling speedy time-to-market."

Apogee Networks' NetCountant Web Hosting Billing and NetCountant Content Collection solutions enable web hosting providers to create and bill for a wide range of new advanced billing services including:

1. New Services that Bill by Type of Application or Customer: This allows service providers to distinguish and bill applications by service type. Service providers will now be able to differentiate services by content type for enhanced system security, streaming media, and e-commerce transactions.

2. Services that are Distinguished and Billed by Class of Service: This enables service providers to offer services at prices based on quality of service and to differentiate each customer by a distinct rank or class of service.

3. Unique Services that Bill by Performance: Service providers will now able to set up customers by service performance and bill accordingly. Customers can be billed by a "premium" or faster delivery of service or by "non-premium" or best effort delivery of service.

4. Service Opportunities to Bill for Overflow: Service providers will have the ability to bill for the overflow of a web hosting event. For example, if an event pulls in a larger than expected audience or for unpredicted audience flow in the case of a live news event on the Internet.

5. New Billing for Caching Servers: Service providers have the ability to create billing to edge caching services and side caching services.

"Apogee Networks' is positioning NetCountant Web Hosting Billing as a fully comprehensive solution set for the web hosting marketplace," commented Paul Hughes Director of Billing of Payment Applications Strategies research at the Yankee Group. "Previously customers had to spend an extensive amount of time integrating various pieces for the web hosting environment. Apogee Networks' solutions enable the web hoster to focus on the business need and revenue creation instead of worrying about the underlying infrastructure issues."

About Apogee Networks

Headquartered in Saddle Brook, New Jersey, Apogee Networks, Inc. develops Content and IP Rating, Billing and Settlement solutions for Content Distributors, ASPs, ISPs, Carriers, Wireless Internet Providers and Enterprise customers. Apogee Networks' NetCountant(R) award-winning product line provides full end-to-end content, revenue settlement, IP billing and usage based chargeback solutions. Uniquely, NetCountant Billing provides real-time billing, flexible service creation and high scalability to meet the challenges of rapid customer growth. Apogee Networks' NetCountant Settlement provides advanced Content aggregation and revenue settlement capabilities. NetCountant Accountability provides Global 2000 Enterprise customers with the capability to better manage and allocate IP usage thereby realizing significant bandwidth cost savings. The company recently was awarded The 2001 Frost and Sullivan Market Engineering Award for Product Innovation, 2001 OSS Excellence Awards, Finalist/Runner-up, COMNET 2001 New Product Achievement Award, 2000 Communications ASP Product of the Year, 2000 Internet Telephony's Product of the Year Award, 1999 Telecom Business Top 500 Award and 1998 Best of Show NetWorld +Interop Award. Apogee Networks is a Charter member of the Internet Protocol Detail Record (IPDR) Association.

Investors include Banc of America Securities LCC, Cisco Systems, Fidelity Ventures Limited, Granite Ventures, Oak Investment Partners, INTEL 64 Fund, BBVA, Net One Systems Co., Ltd., and CTC. For additional information call 1-888-APOGEE3 (276-4333), 1-201-368-8800,or email [e-mail] or visit us at http://www.apogeenetworks.com.