Blueriver and Telekenex Purchase Taqua's Packet Switching Solution; Competitive Carriers Demonstrate Flexibility of iX7000 With Data and Voice Applications.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

RICHARDSON, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 18, 2004

Taqua(R), Inc., a leading provider of next-generation voice switching systems and technologies, today announced two additional CLECs have chosen the iX7000 next generation Class 5 packet switch. Telekenex has chosen the iX7000 as the foundation for their next-generation voice and data service offerings and Blueriver Communications is using the iX7000 for data offload applications.

"Competitive carriers can utilize the iX7000 in a variety of applications that can both save costs and increase revenues," said Gary Brown, executive vice president of sales for Taqua, Inc. "Over the last two years, Taqua has experienced increased demand for not only voice, but data applications as well. While the overwhelming majority of our 85 customers are using the iX7000 to deliver facilities-based voice services, many carriers are also using it to save costs through Internet offload configurations."

The iX7000 provides a simple, single-box solution for providing Internet Offload with a seamless migration to offer Class 5 voice services. Instead of using PRIs to the incumbent local exchange carrier, competitive or Internet service providers can use SS7 links and save on monthly charges. Blueriver Communications, the CLEC division of Blueriver Networking Services, is using Taqua's iX7000 to provide PRI facilities for ISP services to bypass the high-cost of buying traditional retail service. Blueriver Networking has been serving southern Indiana since 1995 with dialup and dedicated IP network services, and realized the need to minimize overhead costs to remain competitive for many years. "We needed an offload solution that could save us operational costs and give us greater control," explained Craig Brown, CEO of Blueriver Communications. "The iX7000 provided a quick return on our initial investment, and we are now realizing a savings of thousands of dollars a month. At the same time, it positions us to easily deploy voice services if we go down that path."

Telekenex provides next-generation voice and data solutions throughout the United States. The company has been providing these services profitably since 1996 and is currently expanding its service offering to include bundled, hosted and managed solutions. "We made the decision to go with the iX7000 to build a strong foundation to deploy new and differentiated voice and data services," said Anthony Zabit, chief operating & financial officer of Telekenex. "We looked at all the next-generation voice switching solutions and ultimately chose Taqua's iX7000 because it's the most widely deployed and versatile system available. The iX7000 allows us to deliver a differentiated and bundled service offering of local, long distance, and data services to our customers. It also provides us the foundation to deliver hosted and managed IP telephony services."

About Taqua, Inc.

Founded in 1998, Taqua is the market share leader in next-generation telephony systems and technologies. The Company focuses on improving local (ILEC) and competitive (CLEC) exchange carrier deployment and operational costs, while delivering new and differentiated revenue generating broadband services. Taqua offers a complete line of circuit and IP voice switching products and services, including full-featured next-generation packet Class 5 witches, intelligent line access gateways, application servers, and an element management system. In addition, the Company offers a full suite of professional services including network design and capacity planning, as well as installation and cutover services. More information about Taqua can be accessed on the Internet at www.taqua.com.

About Telekenex

Telekenex is a next-generation telecommunications service provider serving enterprises and carriers with a robust national network, and innovative solutions, including: local, long distance, international calling, high-speed data transmission and Internet services, and a full suite of customer premise communications equipment and hosted IP telephony solutions. Telekenex helps companies reduce communication costs, increase employee productivity with new business collaboration solutions and eliminate the expense and complexity of managing legacy PBX solutions. Telekenex is headquartered at 3221 20th Street, San Francisco, CA. Phone: [phone]. Web site: www.telekenex.com. For more information, please contact Brandon Chaney at [phone] or [e-mail].

Taqua and iX7000 are trademarks of Taqua, Inc.