CopperCom and DTI Networks Merge to Redefine Voice over DSL; Merger Extends CopperCom's VoDSL Offerings to Include Differentiated Voice Services at a Greatly Reduced Cost.

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SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 13, 2000

In a rare pre-IPO move, CopperCom, a Silicon Valley company that is Giving Voice to DSL(TM), and DTI Networks, a pioneer in softswitch technology based in Boca Raton, Fla., today announced a merger of the two companies.

With this merger, CopperCom is leading the Voice over DSL (VoDSL) market into the next phase of evolution beyond pure transport by expanding its service provider offerings to include local exchange switching, standard voice calling features, and revolutionary personalized calling features.

VoDSL solutions that support the delivery of multiple phone lines plus high-speed Internet access over a single copper pair are already bringing important benefits to service providers, but the dramatic expansion of the scope of VoDSL being brought about by CopperCom will deliver even more compelling benefits -- such as lowering the cost of local exchange switching, enabling the delivery of highly differentiated voice services, and easing the migration to end-to-end packet voice networking.

"CopperCom's strategy is to build long-term value as a company, providing our customers with the technology that both meets their current needs and anticipates their future needs," said Cynthia Ringo, president and CEO of CopperCom.

"Softswitch is the key technology for our customers to maximize the value of packet voice in their access networks. While many softswitch vendors have been focusing on the core transport network, DTI brings a unique combination of local telephony switching know-how and innovation in call processing and feature creation software which are required for the access network."

Dennis Chateauneuf, president and CEO of DTI Networks said, "DTI's mission has been to deliver softswitch solutions for local telephony services, and packet voice in the access network is critical to our success. This is exactly where VoDSL, and CopperCom as the leader in this marketplace, are gaining momentum. The combination of the technology assets, and the stellar group of people at both CopperCom and DTI creates a powerhouse that will give us an incredible time to market advantage as we take VoDSL to the next logical step."

CopperCom and DTI together are changing the business model for VoDSL by enabling a low-cost switching infrastructure, differentiated service offerings with increased high-margin revenue, and a smooth migration to end-to-end packet networks.

With the combination of CopperComplete DSL(TM) and DTI's Telecommunication Services Portal (TSP), service providers will be able to deliver integrated local telephony services, high-speed Internet access, and innovative personalized calling features at a greatly reduced cost.

These revolutionary new personalized calling features can be designed by the service provider for specific market segments and tailored by individual subscribers via a web interface, to tailor them to their own needs. For example, a home business service offering can include a do-not-disturb feature that allows the subscriber to turn off ringing on his business line in the middle of the night.

Or, a new small business offering can enable someone to easily forward calls received from specific numbers to his cell phone based on time of day.

"Rio just recently selected DTI Networks and CopperCom to build our new access and switching infrastructure to deliver new bundled services at competitive prices," said Ed Marcotte, president of Rio Communications, a full service telephone company that provides both voice and high-speed data services.

"CopperCom and DTI each provide best-of-breed solutions to us today. Bringing these two companies together to address our future packet networks is a brilliant move!"

According to Mike Adolphi, president of Picus Communications, an international telecommunications company, "Picus is an early leader in Voice over DSL deployments, and CopperCom's equipment and great support have propelled us into the market with our Clear-Vision DSL bundled voice and data services. Picus' strategy from the start has been to deliver our services with softswitches.

"We are excited that our strategic partner, CopperCom, has the vision to make this move to deliver the promise that we have been waiting for."

Tom Nolle, president of CIMI Corp., said, "New-generation voice revolves around two things today -- getting the customer empowered with digital broadband access, and providing customizable voice features that can generate revenue and customer loyalty. CopperCom is perhaps the most ATM-centric of the DSL players, and thus well positioned to exploit the current RBOC movement toward an all-ATM infrastructure. DTI is the drop-dead winner in the new-gen voice feature creation and customization space. The two companies could create a truly formidable player in this important market."

Brett Sheppard of TeleChoice said, "This merger is a valuable move for CopperCom as it addresses one of the key unasked challenges that faces the Voice over DSL gateway market -- what's next? Voice over DSL is the logical first step toward a true end-to-end softswitch-based packet network that offers carriers substantial cost savings and the ability to customize new services. DTI's XML-based feature creation environment is an important plus for the new combined company."

The merged company will be called CopperCom and will retain its headquarters in Santa Clara, with development and support facilities in both Santa Clara and Boca Raton. Ringo will head the company as CEO, and Chateauneuf will be president and COO. Both will be members of the Board of the combined company.

Other Board members are Charlie Bass, chairman; Richard Bodman, AT&T Ventures; Jean-Pierre Boespflug, Cross Atlantic Ventures; Andrew Fillat, Advent International; and Bob Loarie, Morgan Stanley.

About DTI Networks

DTI Networks empowers CLECs, ISPs and next generation carriers to capture the opportunity presented by the burgeoning voice services market, estimated to grow to $60 billion in the next five years. Using DTI's groundbreaking Virtual Voice Services (VVS) architecture, service providers can quickly create and deliver dynamic voice services over current and next generation networks.

DTI's management is comprised of professionals from both the voice and data sides of the communications industry, including executives from Sun Microsystems, Summa Four and Nortel Networks. DTI, a privately held company, has more than 200 switches installed at carrier sites across the U.S.

In May 1999, DTI raised $17 million in funding from Advent International, AT&T Ventures, Advanced Technology Ventures (ATV) and ABN AMRO Private Equity to market and develop its VVS architecture. Founded in 1993, DTI is headquartered in Boca Raton, with offices throughout the United States. More information about DTI is available by calling 888/DTI-2202 or at http://www.dtinetworks.com.

About CopperCom

CopperCom is a privately held Silicon Valley company that is Giving Voice to DSL. The company was founded to address a worldwide market that is at the crossroads of voice and data convergence, and is paving the way for the next generation of high-bandwidth applications.

CopperCom is leading the market in delivering carrier-class Voice over DSL equipment, both voice gateways and integrated access devices, to incumbent and competitive local exchange carriers. To accelerate market development, the company has taken a leadership role in both market education and standards efforts for Voice over DSL.

CopperCom has built a strong management team with expertise across both the data and voice networking industries, international depth in European, Asian and North American markets, and management experience in start-ups as well as large multinationals.

The company has attracted engineering talent from AT&T, Ericsson, Nortel, Fujitsu, Ipsilon, Fore, Advanced Micro Devices, AFCI, DSC, Network Equipment Technologies, Juniper and Madge Networks. CopperCom can be contacted via telephone at 408/567-9277, fax at 408/567-9558, and the Internet at www.coppercom.com.

Note to Editors: CopperCom, CopperComplete DSL, Giving Voice to DSL, The Many Voices of DSL and True Telephony are trademarks of CopperCom Inc. Other trademarks appearing in this document are the property of their respective owners.

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