Avici Systems Advances MPLS Leadership at Two Leading Industry Forums; Successfully Demonstrates MPLS VPN Interoperability with Leading Vendors.

Business/Technology Editors

N. BILLERICA, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 15, 2001

Avici Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: AVCI), a leading provider of scalable and reliable routing for the Internet, today announced the successful completion this week of separate interoperability tests of its Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) software through the Internetworking Lab of Isocore following the MPLS 2001 Conference, and the European Advanced Networking Test Center (EANTC). MPLS support is available on Avici's TSR(R)and SSR(TM)core routers.

These latest rounds of testing focused on demonstrating vendor interoperability for the provisioning of MPLS Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and MPLS traffic engineering (TE), which are key to carriers' development of profitable Internet services. Avici was the only router vendor at both forums, demonstrating the company's commitment to bringing completely interoperable and reliable solutions to the service provider market.

In a significant step toward providing carriers with an interoperable MPLS VPN solution that can support revenue-generating services using multi-vendor networking equipment, the MPLS 2001 Internetworking Lab completed the successful testing of MPLS VPN interoperability with different physical interfaces, specifically Gigabit Ethernet (GbE), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) and Packet-over-SONET (POS). Avici's equipment played a key role by providing VPN support across the core of the multi-vendor test network. The EANTC testing also carried out multi-vendor MPLS VPN interoperability testing using different physical interfaces.

The final Isocore demonstration was presented live to attending Internet Service Providers (ISPs) on November 14. Participating ISPs and router vendors agreed upon the contents of the demonstration in advance, at the Technical Advisory Committee meeting at the MPLS 2001 Conference.

"The latest round of MPLS testing at MPLS 2001 and other industry forums has proven the feasibility and operational potential of using MPLS technology for traffic engineering and provisioning VPNs capable of reliably supporting commercial Internet services," said Dr. Bijan Jabbari of Isocore. "We are confident in the recent progress we have made with respect to supporting MPLS VPNs across the multiple types of physical interfaces, such as GbE and POS, found in networks today."

Chris Gunner, senior vice president of research and development at Avici, said, "Service providers are telling us MPLS VPN support is a key component of their future network plans, and interoperability testing is a critical step on the path to deployment. These independent tests demonstrate our continued commitment to provide leading-edge, interoperable VPN technology to enable service providers to deliver profitable Internet services over their IP-based infrastructure."

Both test sessions performed testing on the Internet Engineering Task Force's (IETF) RFC 2547 standard, which uses the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) to propagate information about MPLS VPNs, and MPLS Label Distribution Protocol (LDP) to support Layer 3 VPNs. Both sessions also tested MPLS Resource Reservation Protocol for traffic engineering (RSVP-TE).

The MPLS 2001 LDP testing for VPN support and the RSVP-TE testing for bandwidth provisioning through traffic engineering used devices from Alcatel Networks, Avici Systems, Cisco Systems, Ericsson, Foundry Networks, Marconi, Nortel Networks and Unisphere Networks; as well as test equipment from Agilent Technologies, Ixia Communications and Spirent Communications.

Participants in the EANTC testing included Alcatel Networks, Avici Systems, Data Connection, Riverstone Networks, Agilent Technologies, Ixia Communications, NetTest and Spirent Communications.

About Isocore's Internetworking Lab

Isocore provides a program of cutting-edge research, development and testing in the critical areas of next generation Internet technology and wireless networking. One of the objectives of Isocore, which is achieved through its Internetworking Lab, is to advance Internetworking technology in the area of Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS). The current effort includes interoperability among major networking equipment suppliers. This work is supported by major Internet service providers as well as networking and test equipment suppliers.

For more information about the Isocore's Internetworking Lab visit the web site at http://www.isocore.com.

About EANTC

The European Advanced Networking Test Center (EANTC) offers vendor neutral network test facilities for manufacturers, service providers and enterprise customers. Primary business areas include interoperability, conformance and performance testing for IP, ATM, MPLS, and broadband voice related network technologies and applications. EANTC provides network related services including consulting and seminars for ATM, MPLS and other networking technologies.

About Avici Systems

Avici Systems Inc., headquartered in North Billerica, Mass., is a leading provider of purpose-built carrier-class routing solutions for the Internet. Avici's family of routers is designed to meet carrier requirements for the highest scalability, reliability and network availability, while lowering the total cost of building and operating their networks. The company's routing systems provide new IP solutions to some of the world's leading service providers. For more information, please visit us at www.avici.com.

Avici and TSR are registered trademarks of Avici Systems Inc.

This press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words "will" and other similar expressions are intended to identify such forward looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated.

Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, market acceptance of Avici products, services and enhancements, customer purchasing patterns and commitments, development of the market place, product development and enhancement, intensity of competition of other vendors, technological changes and other risks set forth in Avici's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.