Live IP Telephony Calls Delivered On Commworks Corporation's Next-Generation Platform.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 30, 2001

Technology Showcase at COMNET Highlights Capabilities of Total

Control 2000 Multiservice Access Platform, CommWorks 4000 Softswitch

and Other IP Telephony Products; Customer Trials Slated for Midyear

ComNet 2001 Booth No. 826. CommWorks(R) Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of 3Com Corporation (Nasdaq:COMS), this week is demonstrating live Internet protocol (IP) telephony voice calls carried over its next-generation Total Control(R) 2000 multiservice access platform. This week's technology showcase also features the call control and signaling mediation features of the CommWorks(R) 4000 Softswitch and other elements of CommWorks' IP telephony solution.

The live demonstration at the COMNET Conference & Expo is the latest in a series of milestones reached by CommWorks in its development of the Total Control 2000 platform. Aggressive plans for the design and development of a next-generation platform were announced at last January's COMNET event in Washington, D.C. Less than six months later, the platform was publicly unveiled at the Supercomm 2000 show in Atlanta. This week the Total Control 2000 platform is carrying live IP telephony voice calls.

CommWorks is also on target to meet its next development milestone for the Total Control 2000 platform. The company announced today that AARO Broadband Wireless Communications, Inc. (OTCBB:AARW), an emerging service provider based in Oklahoma City, Okla., will serve as the inaugural trial customer for the platform. (For more information, please see today's companion CommWorks news announcement headlined "CommWorks Corporation Announces Inaugural Trial Customer for its Next Generation Total Control 2000 (R) Platform.")

"One year ago at COMNET we announced our intention to advance the state of public networking by creating a new multi-service access platform capable of handling hundreds of thousands of connections," said Irfan Ali, president, CommWorks Corporation. "Today we are delivering on that pledge by demonstrating a packet-based networking solution that combines the industry's highest port density with fast, reliable, carrier-class functionality and support for multiple services. With the Total Control 2000 platform, customers can use the same packet-based network for voice and data, resulting in operational cost savings and ease of network maintenance."

CommWorks is among the world's top three providers of carrier-class IP telephony equipment for service providers. (Source: The Dell'Oro Group) IP telephony equipment from CommWorks has carried more than one billion minutes of voice traffic for service providers in North America, Europe and Asia.

Deployed by some of the world's largest service providers, the CommWorks IP telephony solution is based on a carrier-class, three-tier architecture that provides for the seamless interconnection of existing infrastructures, such as the public switched telephone network (PSTN), IP networks and the Signaling System 7 (SS7) network. This open, standards-based solution also allows service providers to rapidly develop and deploy new revenue-generating services and applications.

Total Control 2000 Platform Delivers Unparalleled Port Density

The Total Control 2000 platform features unparalleled port density with 52,416 DS0 voice ports (including support for compressed and uncompressed CODECS) and support for over one million busy hour call attempts in a fully configured system, which will require only two 84-inch equipment racks. This level of capacity in a small footprint enables service providers to reduce costs of ownership and increase revenue.

The Total Control 2000 platform will lead the industry with an internal switching capacity per shelf of 20Gbps, allowing it to easily accommodate technological advances on the digital signal processor (DSP) and other I/O interfaces that demand high capacity switching fabric. The next release of the platform will support high capacity transport mechanisms like SONET/SDH, enabling service providers to phase out fiber multiplexing equipment. The platform includes a fully fault tolerant system that offers system bus, timing and power supply redundancy for guaranteed network availability that matches the PSTN.

The new platform complements the current, award-winning Total Control 1000 platform to provide efficient scalability within the same network. Today, there are more than 12 million Total Control 1000 ports deployed by service providers around the world. The Total Control 1000 platform is ideal for smaller points of presence (POPs) where tens of thousands of subscribers are served, while the Total Control 2000 platform is designed for areas of higher population densities where hundreds of thousands of connections are needed. The platforms share common DSP, routing and network management technologies. Both feature fully redundant system components and a common equipment architecture that will significantly simplify capacity expansion.

About CommWorks Corporation

CommWorks, a 3Com Company, supplies network service providers around the world with access infrastructures and IP services platforms that open new business opportunities and help them establish unique positions in a competitive marketplace. With flexible multi-service hardware platforms and modular software components, the comprehensive CommWorks architecture makes it possible for service providers to integrate their existing infrastructures with innovative technologies to deliver an array of next-generation IP-based enhanced services to their customers. For further information, visit www.commworks.com.

About 3Com Corporation

3Com simplifies how people connect to information and services through easy-to-use, connectivity products and solutions for consumers and commercial organizations. The company also provides access infrastructures and IP services platforms for network service providers. For further information, visit www.3com.com or the press site at www.3com.com/pressbox.

Note to Editors: 3Com, CommWorks and Total Control are registered trademarks of 3Com Corporation. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.