Convergent Networks Appoints Telecom Executive Surya Panditi President and Chief Executive Officer.

Business/Technology Editors

LOWELL, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 7, 2002

Company Further Strengthens Management Team with Addition of

Former Lucent Technologies VP, Mike Dagenais, as Vice

President of Engineering

Convergent Networks, Inc., a leading provider of broadband voice infrastructure solutions, today announced the appointment of Surya Panditi to the position of president and chief executive officer. With nearly 20 years' experience in the communications industry, Panditi will lead Convergent Networks through the company's next stage of expansion as it accelerates the deployment of its next-generation voice technology to the global market. Panditi succeeds John C. Thibault, who will remain chairman of the company's board of directors.

Convergent Networks also announced the addition of Mike Dagenais, a former Lucent Technologies executive, as vice president of engineering. This appointment allows Bing Yang to focus on his duties as chief technology officer, a position he has held in addition to vice president of engineering since he founded the company in 1998.

"Convergent Networks has achieved early success in the competitive carrier market with its packet voice switching solutions," said Surya Panditi. "However, the telecommunications market has changed dramatically this past year. Our challenge now is to drive the adoption of our next-gen technology into the networks of incumbent long-distance and local carriers both domestically and internationally. My role is to ensure that Convergent Networks has the best products and the right strategy to address this multibillion-dollar market opportunity. I'm pleased to join this team of dedicated employees, and I'm excited about the company's promising future."

As chairman and former president and chief executive officer of Avici Systems, Panditi's track record included driving Avici's growth and development from its startup stage through a successful initial public offering in 2000. Under Panditi's direction from 1997 to 2001, Avici built and deployed the world's first scalable router in use by major carriers worldwide. Panditi will continue as chairman of Avici's board of directors.

Prior to Avici Systems, Panditi was vice president and general manager of the LAN Infrastructure business unit at US Robotics, where he was responsible for development, worldwide management and marketing of the Ethernet and ATM switching business. His earlier experience includes positions with Intel Corporation, Ungermann-Bass and Telco Systems. Panditi holds a B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Dagenais has 25 years' experience leading the engineering and deployment of telephony, optical and data networking products for Lucent Technologies and Nortel Networks. Most recently, Dagenais was vice president and general manager of Lucent Technologies INS (InterNetworking Systems) Core Switching Division. In this role, he had P&L responsibility and managed the division's engineering, product and business development, business operations and administrative functions. Dagenais began his engineering career at Bell Northern Research, the research and development subsidiary of what is now Nortel Networks. Dagenais holds a B.S. degree in electrical engineering and an M.S. degree in communications systems from Carleton University.

"Mike has been at the forefront of telecom innovations throughout his career," said Bing Yang. "He brings strong leadership and management expertise, extensive service provider customer experience and a proven track record of delivering new products to market on a global scale. Mike will be the driving force behind our engineering teams as we continue to accelerate our product innovation cycle."

Convergent Networks' award-winning next-generation packet voice switching solutions have been installed by leading carriers including Focal Communications, Broadwing, Cablevision, Adelphia Business Systems, Global NAPs, as well as many smaller competitive and local incumbent carriers. Convergent Networks' Cohesion(TM) product family offers a proven alternative to traditional circuit switch equipment for service providers seeking to deliver voice and data services over a broadband packet-based network infrastructure. As the market leader in PRI offload applications, Convergent Networks has deployed over two million voice ports to date. Its customers are currently carrying more than three billion minutes of live voice and data traffic per month over Cohesion broadband solutions.

"With the addition of Surya and Mike to the management team, Convergent Networks is well positioned to continue leading the transformation of the telecom industry," said John C. Thibault, chairman of Convergent Networks' board of directors. "They each bring in-depth industry knowledge and have demonstrated their leadership abilities and business acumen in organizations large and small. They have the experience and proven track records to lead Convergent Networks into the next phase of growth and expansion. I look forward to working closely with them both."

About Convergent Networks, Inc.

Founded in 1998 and privately held, Convergent Networks designs, develops and markets next-generation carrier-class packet voice switching solutions for service providers. Convergent Networks' Cohesion product family is composed of the ICS2000(TM) broadband switch; the ICSG(TM) signaling gateway; the ICSX(TM) softswitch and services platform; and the ICView(TM) management system. Cohesion solutions provide carriers with economical alternatives to Class 4 and Class 5 circuit switches, as well as new revenue-generating service opportunities. More information about the company can be found at www.convergentnet.com.

Cohesion, ICS2000, ICSG, ICSX and ICView are trademarks of Convergent Networks.