MobileIGNITE Evolves to Independent Organization to Accelerate Fixed Mobile Convergence Interoperability and Adoption; Members Outline Key Industry Priorities and Initiatives for Service Providers and Mobile, SIP, IMS Vendors.

CHICAGO -- MobileIGNITE has evolved rapidly as a result of the group's initiatives and has now completed the transition into an independent organization to drive broader Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) adoption. The new structure will enable the organization to accelerate FMC by promoting standards based end-to-end interoperable solutions that improve the quality, coverage, flexibility and cost of mobile voice and data services and the mobility of IP communications services.

MobileIGNITE stands for Mobile Integrated Go-To-Market Network IP Telephony Experience and was originally founded by BridgePort Networks in January 2005. The new MobileIGNITE is an independent multi-lateral industry association based on a shared Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that is committed to FMC solutions that build on standards such as CDMA, GSM, UMTS, SIP, IMS, and 802.11/16.

Initial MobileIGNITE members are: 724 Solutions, Apertio, Boingo Wireless, BridgePort Networks, Centile, CoreMobility, Kyocera Wireless, Net2Phone, PCTEL, QualPhone, Reef Point Systems, SIPquest, Tekelec, VeriSign, Vivox, and WorldCell. New members are welcome and membership information may be found at www.mobileignite.org.

During the ongoing transition phase and until December 31, 2005, all previous MobileIGNITE members are accorded Affiliate status - with the limited ability to attend MobileIGNITE meetings. MobileIGNITE Affiliates include: Acme Packet, Aruba, AudioCodes, Commoca, CounterPath Solutions, IBM, Sonim Technologies, Sylantro and TapRoot Systems.

MobileIGNITE also has formed an Executive Steering Committee to guide the activities, programs and evolution of MobileIGNITE. The Executive Steering Committee members include:

--Sanjay Jhawar (Chair) - SVP, Marketing & Business Development, BridgePort Networks

--Richard Jackson, VP, Business Development, Centile

--T. Sanford Jewett, VP, Business Development, WorldCell, Inc.

--Michael Luna, CTO, 724 Solutions

--Hermon Pon, VP, Corporate Development, Tekelec

At the first meeting of the new MobileIGNITE, hosted by Tekelec on November 3, in Richardson, Texas, the interoperability group launched its first three key initiatives:

--IP Centrex (SIP) to mobile network (SS7 and IMS) inter-working

--IMS based VoIP over Wi-Fi to circuit switched cellular voice call handover network to handset interoperability based on emerging Voice Call Continuity standards in 3GPP and 3GPP2

--Mobile / SIP-based messaging and presence inter-working

The interoperability group will work to define common use cases, interoperability test cases and requirements from the baseline open standards on which the above FMC applications are based. In conjunction with these three initiatives, MobileIGNITE invites interested industry participants to join.

"As SIP-based MobileVoIP and related convergence applications move to early market deployment, MobileIGNITE has evolved to an open industry group that will provide the multi-vendor framework for Fixed Mobile Convergence infrastructure, terminals and applications - as part of a managed pre-IMS to IMS transition", said Sanjay Jhawar, Chairman of the Executive Steering Committee, at the conclusion of the recent meeting. "The first three interoperability initiatives selected represent the most important FMC applications currently in industry market trials where this interoperability work is most needed before broad scale commercial deployment can begin."

"SIP is a pivotal technology for fixed-mobile convergence, and is the basis of IMS and other network architectures. Yet many operators remain uncertain about the time-to-market for IMS compliant FMC solutions", said Dean Bubley, Founder of Disruptive Analysis. "The emergence of the MobileIGNITE, as an independent group, is an important step in the development of interoperable, multi-vendor FMC solutions for carriers, helping migrate the business cases and architectures from today's to the future's networks."

MobileIGNITE will be exhibiting at 3G World Congress and Exhibition 2005 in Hong Kong, from 14-18 November 2005 with MobileVoIP Live! demonstrations on both CDMA and GSM live networks, including dual mode GSM/Wi-Fi voice roaming and mobile network extensions to Microsoft's SIP based Live Communications Server. Visit Booth # 1962 to experience the live demonstrations.

About MobileIGNITE

MobileIGNITE is an independent industry association of leading service providers and vendors that collaborate on accelerating the time to market for multi-vendor fixed-mobile convergence solutions that work in existing fixed and mobile networks with a smooth transition to the IP Multimedia System (IMS) environment. Key initiatives include interoperability specification, market requirements development and liaison with industry standards organizations and other industry groups. Further information and application procedures may be found at www.mobileignite.org.