Data Connection Participates in the World's First Public Multi-Vendor GMPLS Interoperability Test At NGN.

Business Editors

Next Generation Networks 2002

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 14, 2002

Data Connection demonstrates its integrated GMPLS and OSPF-TE 

control plane.

Data Connection Ltd. (DCL), the leading independent developer and supplier of protocol software, announced today that it is participating in the industry's first public multi-vendor Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS) interoperability demonstration being organized by the MPLS Forum.

DCL was first to market with GMPLS in August 2000, OIF-UNI in April 2001 and LMP in December 2001. DCL has continued to be one of the driving forces behind the standardization of these protocols and, as a result, supplies its software to almost all the major optical equipment vendors.

"Optical control plane technology is advancing very rapidly, whilst maintaining consensus among the various players", said Ben Miller, VP of Sales and Marketing for DCL's protocol division. "This maturity has enabled us to produce a fully integrated software solution, comprising OSPF-TE (or ISIS-TE) for routing, GMPLS for signaling, and LMP for link management."

"Seven vendors will be taking part in the live demonstration at NGN," said Ananda Sen Gupta, VP of Marketing for the MPLS Forum and Product Manager for Agilent Technologies. "The MPLS Forum demonstration is a serious milestone event in advancing the GMPLS standards being worked on by the Internet Engineering Task Force. It is through efforts like this that technological advancements are tested and prepared to be deployed into carrier networks."

Visit DCL at booth 123, and see the demonstration between 3 and 8:30 pm this Monday and Tuesday, October 14 & 15, at the Boston Marriott Copley Place Hotel as part of the NGN.

About Data Connection Limited (DCL)

Data Connection Limited (DCL) is the leading independent developer and supplier of IP Routing, LMP, MPLS, SIP, MGCP/Megaco, SCTP, ATM, Conferencing, Unified Messaging, Directory and SNA portable products. Customers include Calient, CIENA, Cisco, Fujitsu, Hitachi, IBM Corp., Lucent, Microsoft, Nortel Networks, Sycamore, and Sun. Its MetaSwitch division develops and manufactures a carrier-class Next Generation Class 5 Switch for telecommunications service providers. Data Connection is headquartered in London UK, with US offices in Reston, VA and Alameda, CA.

It was founded in 1981 and is privately held. During each of the past 20 years its profits have exceeded 20% of revenue. Last year sales exceeded $35M, of which 90% were outside the UK, mostly in the US. This large proportion of overseas sales has led to the company being awarded two Queen's Awards for outstanding export performance.

For information, contact Ben Miller by email at [e-mail], call us at [phone], or visit our Web site at http://www.dataconnection.com. About The MPLS Forum The MPLS Forum is an international industry organization driving worldwide deployment of multi-vendor MPLS networks, applications and services. The Forum accomplishes this through interoperability initiatives, implementation agreements and education programs. For more information about The MPLS Forum, please contact Alexa Morris, MPLS Forum Executive Director, at [phone] or via e-mail at [e-mail]. Additional information regarding Forum membership and the Forum's mission is available online at http://www.mplsforum.org.

Data Connection is a trademark of Data Connection Limited and Data Connection Corporation. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.