Chester Telephone Doubles the Serving Distance of Its DSL Services Using Symmetricom's GoLong Loop Extender; Field Trials to Begin in Chester, S.C. Mid-December 2000.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

HILTON HEAD, S.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 4, 2000

Symmetricom Inc. (Nasdaq:SYMM), the leading provider of network enhancement solutions for converged voice, data and video networks, Monday revealed that Chester Telephone Co. will field trial Symmetricom's GoLong Loop Extender to double the reach of its digital subscriber line (DSL) network.

The field trial begins Dec. 18, 2000 in Chester and will continue through January 2001. Chester Telephone Co., an independent telephone company located between Columbia, S.C. and Charlotte, N.C., has been having difficulties reaching customers requesting broadband ADSL services.

Chester has deployed remote DSLAM terminals solving some of their long loop problems but still has problems serving loops in excess of the 18,000 feet. The GoLong field trial will be implemented using a single repeater to provide service for customers located beyond 18,000 feet.

"Symmetricom's GoLong product allows us to reach key customers we could not previously serve," said Tracy Starnes, assistant plant manager at Chester Telephone Co. "Not only does this help us cost-effectively reach a larger customer base, it also enables us to help span the broadband divide by serving both urban and rural areas."

"Thanks to GoLong, innovative independent telephone company service providers such as Chester Telephone can now provide DSL broadband services to everyone -- not just those lucky enough to live within 15,000 feet of a serving office," said Barry Dropping, Symmetricom's GoLong director of engineering.

"By enabling DSL services to reach as far as 30,000 feet from the central office, GoLong can allow carriers such as Chester Telephone Company to effectively offer universal DSL services."

Symmetricom's GoLong extender is a revolutionary loop extender solution that solves a substantial technological limitation for telecom carriers. Using current technology, the performance of asynchronous DSL (ADSL) services drops off significantly at distances of about 13,000 to 14,000 feet from the central office (CO), and ADSL no longer works at distances of more than 18,000 feet from the CO.

Customers beyond 18,000 feet from a phone company's CO generally can only be served by ISDN digital subscriber line (IDSL) technology, which only supports data speeds of 144 kbps and is more expensive to install than ADSL technology.

In contrast, for an incremental investment in their ADSL networks, carriers can deploy GoLong to offer true high-speed data services (1.5 Mbps downstream and 128 kbps upstream) to customers as far as 30,000 feet, or nearly six miles, away from the central office.

This allows service providers to reach an estimated 95 percent of all high-speed Internet customers cost-effectively, thus enabling them to better compete against other high-speed Internet options such as cable modems.

About Chester Telephone Co.

Chester Telephone Co. is an independent ILEC with a 103-year history of providing service in a rural midlands area of South Carolina. Chester Telephone serves an area of 750 square miles with approximately 18,000 customers in the Chester, Lewisville and Great Falls communities.

Proud of its history of service and its ability to provide the latest in digital high-speed technology to its customers, Chester recently began a new service offering ADSL and now has approximately 125 DSL customers. For more information on Chester Telephone, contact Tracy Starnes, 803/581-9194.

About Symmetricom

The Heartbeat of the Net(TM) Symmetricom Inc. is the leading provider of network solutions to telecommunications and access network service providers and original equipment manufacturers.

With synchronization and timing solutions installed in the communications networks of more than 70 countries around the world, as well as network access products that extend the reach and performance of today's high-speed data networks, Symmetricom's solutions help the world's service providers improve quality, cut operational costs and reduce network downtime.

For more information, please visit Symmetricom's web site at http://www.symmetricom.com.

This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and is subject to the safe harbor created by those Sections. These forward-looking statements include statements concerning market share and market demand.

Symmetricom's actual results could differ materially from those projected or suggested in these forward-looking statements.

Factors that could cause future actual results to differ materially from the results projected in or suggested by such forward-looking statements include: reduced rates of growth of wireless and wireline telecommunication services and high-bandwidth applications; timing, cancellation or delay of customer orders; delays in new product development, introduction and production startup; increased competition; customer acceptance of new products, customer delays in qualification of key new products, and the risk factors listed from time to time in Symmetricom's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to, the report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2000, and the report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2000.