Bruce Telephone selects MainStreetXpress platform for high-speed data, distance learning solutions.

NEW ORLEANS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 3, 1997--Siemens Stromberg-Carlson has announced at SuperComm '97 that Bruce Telephone Co. will bring interactive distance learning and high-speed data delivery to its service area in northern Mississippi with the MainStreetXpress(tm) 36170 Multiservices Switch and 46020 Network Management System.

The switch and management system are part of a family of MainStreetXpress broadband products developed jointly by Siemens and Newbridge Networks Inc.

While local businesses need to move data faster, the local schools want to do distance education. As part of a statewide effort to establish education links in Mississippi, the frame relay system initially will be used by local schools to tie together classrooms around the county. The system will gradually be expanded around the state.

"It has always been important for us to offer our customers the very latest communications solutions," said Billy Young, general manager of Bruce Tel. "Currently we offer custom calling features, voice mail and paging. We're an agent for providing cellular service, and we're also an Internet Service Provider."

"We were able to deliver a comprehensive, future-proof solution today to Bruce Tel.," said Chuck Harris, vice president at Siemens Stromberg-Carlson. "We worked closely with Bruce Tel. and decided together that a frame relay service over Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) via the MainStreetXpress 36170 was a perfect fit for the demand they have today and as their requirements evolve. It's a platform that met their immediate application and it keeps Bruce Tel. competitive for the long term."

Bruce Telephone Co. serves mostly rural subscribers and offers a level of service that rivals many metropolitan areas. For example, Bruce Tel. was the first telephone company in Mississippi to install a digital switch (a Siemens DCO(r) system cutover in 1980) and was the first to deploy SS7 and CLASS services.

Siemens Stromberg-Carlson, headquartered in Boca Raton, Fla., is a leading provider of telecommunications equipment to the public network service providers in North America. The company designs and manufactures digital central office switching equipment, broadband switching systems, wireless solutions, end-to-end multimedia solutions, Internet solutions, telecommunications network management products, customer premise equipment and transmission products. Siemens Stromberg-Carlson is a subsidiary of Siemens AG, which has annual revenues of $63.6 billion (FY 95-96) and is present in 190 countries. Home page: http://www.ssc.siemens.com .

The public Communication Networks Group of Siemens AG (Munich, Germany) and Newbridge Networks (Kanata, Canada), two of the world leaders in ATM, formed a strategic networking alliance in 1996 to provide carriers worldwide with the most comprehensive and advanced ATM solution set. With this agreement, the two companies have unified their ATM product lines under the MainStreetXpress brand and assembled the most extensive ATM research and development operation -- 1,500 engineers in five countries. -0-

MainStreetXpress is a trademark used jointly by Siemens AG and Newbridge Networks.

DCO is a registered trademark of Siemens Stromberg-Carlson.

NOTE TO EDITORS: In the Internet/email address noted in this news release, there is an "at" symbol between thomas.phillips and ssc.siemens.com; and between robert.bartolotta and ssc.siemens.com . Also, in the World Wide Web address noted in this news release, there is a double slash between http: and www.ssc.siemens.com . These symbols may not appear properly in some systems.

CONTACT: Siemens

Tom Phillips, 561/955-3670

[e-mail]

or

Robert Bartolotta, 561/955-3140

[e-mail]

or

Bruce Telephone

Billy Young, 601/983-4343