IPsphere Forum Formalizes Key Liaisons.

Agreements With MFA, MSF, TMF Harmonize IPSF Mission and Vision

FREMONT, Calif. -- The IPsphere Forum today announced the signing of key liaison agreements with three leading industry consortia: the MFA Forum, the MultiService Forum (MSF) and the TeleManagement Forum (TMF). The IPsphere Forum actively sought relationships with these organizations in driving its charter of unleashing the business and societal benefits of IP convergence.

"MFA Forum, MSF, and TM Forum have made great strides in the mission to enhance the long term innovation abilities of the networking industry," commented Kevin Dillon, Chairman, IPsphere Forum. "We look forward to working with each of these organizations to further this endeavor and believe that our approach to a universal operations framework for multi-stakeholder service management brings a critical element to the mix."

The IPsphere Forum recently finalized its liaison agreement with the MFA Forum, an organization that focuses on enhancing the use of multi-vendor and multi-service packet-based networks.

"The IPsphere Forum's mission complements the work of the MFA Forum by addressing an essential requirement of network convergence: the composition of services across multiple stakeholders and multiple technologies," said Andrew Malis of Verizon Communications, Chairman and President of the MFA Forum.

The MSF, an organization focused on open architecture, multi-service systems also formalized a liaison agreement with the IPsphere Forum.

"Interoperability is a key enabler for convergence, and motivates much of the work of the MSF," said Roger Ward, President of MSF. "We are delighted to see an organization such as IPsphere Forum take on the business policy aspects of convergence, and look forward to working closely with them in order to strengthen the impact of future MSF Interoperability events, including the GMI program (Global MSF Interoperability program), on the industry."

Finally, the IPsphere Forum announced a liaison with the TeleManagement Forum, a consortium focused on the management and operation of information and communications services.

"Convergence demands that operations be as flexible and efficient as possible," added Martin Creaner, President of the TM Forum. "The liaison between the TM Forum and IPsphere Forum acknowledges that this is a multi-faceted challenge - and one to which both organizations can contribute vision and leadership."

The next IPsphere Forum member meeting will be hosted by France Telecom in Dinard, France in September.

About the IPsphere Forum

The IPsphere Forum is a nonprofit organization dedicated to unleashing the business and societal benefits of IP convergence. An international consortium of industry leaders, the IPsphere Forum is developing a universal operational framework for the assembly and delivery of services on converged infrastructures - enabling providers to streamline processes and drive operational efficiencies.

For more information in the IPsphere Forum, please visit www.ipsphereforum.org.

About the MFA Forum

The MFA Forum is an international, industry-wide, nonprofit association of service providers, equipment vendors and enterprise users. The focus of the Forum is to advance the deployment of multi-vendor, multi-service packet-based networks, associated applications, and interworking solutions for telecommunications and networking. The Forum is driving the convergence of ATM, Frame Relay and IP/MPLS technologies in the global telecom industry through interoperability initiatives, implementation agreements, and educational and marketing resources and programs. Additional information about The MFA Forum is available online at http://www.mfaforum.org.

About the MultiService Forum

The MultiService Forum (MSF) is a global association of service providers and system suppliers committed to developing and promoting open-architecture, multiservice systems. Founded in 1998, the MSF is an open-membership organization comprised of the world's leading telecommunications companies. The MSF's activities include developing Implementation Agreements, promoting worldwide compatibility and interoperability, and encouraging input to appropriate national and international standards bodies. For more information, please go to http://www.msforum.org.

About the TeleManagement Forum

With approximately 600 members in 65 countries, the TeleManagement Forum (TM Forum) is the world's leading trade association focused on management of telecom, media & information services. The TM Forum provides leadership, strategic guidance and practical solutions to improve the way that services are created, delivered, assured and charged. Members include service providers, network operators, software suppliers, equipment suppliers and systems integrators.

The TM Forum currently facilitates over 80 technical programs and provides extensive training, conferencing and information services to its members. Through its initiatives to help providers move to 21st century 'lean' processes, the Forum helps its members automate business processes by deploying operational systems that will work seamlessly across various parts of the service delivery chain. The organization provides industry benchmarks, guidebooks, process and software frameworks and specific 'plug and play' standards. These give service providers the direction and specific roadmaps to achieve much greater business efficiency and operational flexibility.

For further information regarding the TM Forum, related programs such as the Prosspero initiative and TM Forum's Management World conferences, please visit www.tmforum.org