BTI Deploys Netopia Routers for High-Speed DSL Services; Netopia IDSL Bonding Technology Provides BTI Competitive Edge with Business Customers in the Southeast.

Business Editors

ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 16, 2000

Netopia, Inc. (Nasdaq:NTPA), a market leader in providing DSL Internet equipment and e-commerce Web platforms to small and medium size businesses, today announced that BTI, a leading integrated communications provider (ICP) in the southeast, will offer BTI customers Netopia's R3200 and R3232 Routers, enabling Internet access at speeds up to 576 Kbps, effectively two to four times the speed of conventional IDSL.

Using Netopia's Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) hardware as part of its IDSL delivery platform, BTI is able to leverage DSL bonding, which is the ability to aggregate multiple DSL lines into a single, higher speed link or a longer distance connection. With IDSL bonding, BTI can offer connections ranging from 288 Kbps to 576 Kbps, where other DSL providers can only offer a maximum data rate of 144 Kbps. Furthermore, using Netopia CPE with DSL bonding gives BTI a longer IDSL reach through Digital Loop Carriers and at distances of up to 6.8 miles from the Central Office.

"Thanks to Netopia's DSL bonding option, BTI has a distinct advantage in the burgeoning market for high-speed Internet connectivity," said Butch Charlton, executive vice president and chief technical officer for BTI. "Our business customers are demanding higher access speeds at competitive prices, and DSL bonding allows us to improve our high-speed access without forcing customers to pay for a T1. And Netopia's CPE offers other benefits, such as VPN security, a built-in firewall, dial-backup, and built-in LAN access. Netopia gives us a competitive advantage over our DSL competitors."

"Working through partners like BTI, we can expand the market for DSL access," said Michael Trupiano, Netopia's Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Internet Equipment Group. "Netopia is committed to delivering innovative Internet access technology to our ICP, ISP, ASP, and CLEC partners. We see DSL bonding as the next important technological step in DSL access, and we are relying on partners like BTI to bring this technology to market."

About BTI

BTI (www.btitele.com) is a facilities-based integrated communications provider (ICP) serving primarily small and medium-sized business customers in the southeastern United States since 1983. The Company offers a full suite of integrated retail services to business customers, including local, long distance, data, Internet access, frame relay, ATM, paging, Web design and hosting and other enhanced services. The Company also offers wholesale services, including switched, private line, special access and prepaid calling card services to other telecommunications carriers and end-user customers. BTI has five network operations centers with Alcatel USA 600E digital switches in Raleigh, Atlanta, Orlando, Dallas and New York. BTI has also successfully deployed 12 of 19 planned Lucent 5E 2000 local switches throughout the Southeast. BTI has completed 3,800 route miles of its planned 4,400-mile fiber network across the eastern United States, including a 138-mile fiber optic network already in service linking Raleigh, Durham, Cary and the Research Triangle Park area in North Carolina.

About Netopia

Netopia, Inc. develops, markets and supports Internet and electronic commerce infrastructure for small and medium size businesses. Netopia's DSL equipment and e-commerce Web platforms enable businesses to connect easily and cost-effectively to the Internet, establish and enhance their Internet presence, and conduct business and electronic commerce on the Web.

With its Netopia DSL Router family, the Company is interoperable with all major central office equipment suppliers, including Alcatel, Cisco, Copper Mountain Networks, Lucent Technologies, Nokia, Orckit, Paradyne, and Siemens; and has established strategic distribution relationships with leading CLECs including Covad Communications, NorthPoint Communications, Rhythms NetConnections, and Jato Communications; and with hundreds of ISPs and carriers including France Telecom, Telecom Italia, Verizon, PSINet, Verio, UUNet, Earthlink Network, and Concentric Network.

With its Netopia e-commerce Web platform, the Company has established Web-based services with Bloomberg.com, Citigroup's bizzed.com, Cendant Corporation, Netscape Netcenter, Jato Communications, Everdream, France Telecom, and Mac Publishing's Macworld.com.

Headquartered in Alameda, Calif., Netopia's common stock trades on The Nasdaq Stock Market(R) under the symbol "NTPA." Further information about Netopia can be obtained via phone [phone], fax [phone] or on the web at www.netopia.com.

Portions of this release include forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Netopia, Inc.'s actual results could differ materially from the results discussed in this release and in the forward-looking statements contained herein for many reasons. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to product development, product acceptance, licensing opportunities and general economic conditions. For more information concerning Netopia and risk factors that may affect Netopia's future results and may cause actual results to vary from results anticipated in forward-looking statements, investors should review Netopia's public filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available by calling Netopia at 510/814-5260 or online at www.sec.gov.

Note to Editors: All company names, brand names and product names are trademarks of their respective holder(s).