Narad Networks to Deploy Business Broadband Solutions with Major Cable Operator in Japan; First Commercial Trial to Small-to-Mid-Sized Businesses.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

WESTFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 6, 2003

Narad Networks, Inc., a provider of business broadband solutions, and Synclayer, Inc., the distribution partner for Narad's technology and software in Japan, today jointly announced the first field trial of Narad's business broadband solutions in Japan with StarCat Cable Network. Following the field trial, the deployment is expected to expand to small-to-medium sized businesses in Nagoya this spring.

The trial includes Narad's broadband access solution for delivering enhanced services such as high-speed Internet access and 30 Mbps. video streams to customers over StarCat's existing hybrid fiber coax (HFC) network. StarCat has a subscriber base of 288,000 with 26,000 subscribers connected to the Internet and 610,000 homes passed.

"High-speed data transmission has become a necessity to our business community that wants an alternative to their DSL provider and we want to satisfy that need at a competitive price," said Katsuhisa Mizuno, vice director of Technical Dept. StarCat. "By deploying the Narad solution we are able to respond to our market demand with speed while preserving the integrity of our infrastructure and the quality of service to our customers."

Narad provides cable operators with the ability to leverage their existing HFC network to deliver competitively priced voice, data and video services to customers including SMBs, mobile operators, enterprise customers, schools and municipalities. Narad's business broadband solution can be installed in phases, adding equipment only to those portions of the plant that lie directly between the node and the business customer to be served.

"We are proud to partner with Narad and StarCat to bring to market a broadband solution that serves a very demanding and sophisticated business community," said Masahiro Yamaguchi, president and CEO, Synclayer. "This launch validates the opportunities for the cable industry to leverage its existing plant to offer broadband solutions to a still largely untapped small-to-medium-sized business sector."

"Narad provides cable operators with the broadband IP services they need to stay competitive with minimal impact to their networks," said Chuck Kaplan, Narad COO. "Through our work with Synclayer and StarCat we have been able to enter the Japanese market with our cost effective business broadband technology. In the current economic climate, businesses are always seeking ways to bring additional revenue streams while keeping capital expenditures down."

The launch with StarCat includes Narad's Broadband Access Network (NBAN) hardware and Narad's Services Delivery Platform (NSDP) software technologies. NBAN is an advanced Hybrid Fiber Coax (HFC) broadband access solution that leverages the unused frequencies above 860 MHz of cable plant to provide switched Ethernet over the existing last mile of coaxial cable without affecting current cable services. NSDP is a complete software suite that simplifies cable operators' efforts to create and manage broadband IP offerings.

About Synclayer:

Synclayer Inc., a provider of cable system integration, manufactures and distributes optical transmitters/receivers, optical amplifiers, optical nodes and coaxial relay amplifiers for the delivery of reliable, ultra high-speed data transfer, as well as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services and digital video transmission capacity for over 300 channels through its exceptionally advanced network architecture. The company has created a new and stunningly original network architecture solution -- Deep Fiber technology -- enabling smooth step-by-step upgrading to fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) and fiber-to-the-office (FTTO) connections, based around a Hybrid Fiber-Coaxial (HFC) system. The company supports network design, installation and maintenance and have been involved with cable network design and installation for many years.

Founded in May 1962 in Nagoya, Japan as an Aichi Electronics Co., Ltd. and changed its name to Synclayer Inc. in July 2002.

About Narad Networks:

Narad Networks, Inc. is a provider of business broadband solutions that create profitable new business models for cable operators. The combination of Narad's network equipment and Services Lifecycle software allows MSOs to offer a wide array of competitively priced services to commercial customers, only adding equipment to those portions of the plant that lie directly between the node and the business customer to be served. These customers include small-to-medium businesses (SMBs), mobile and WiFi operators, enterprise customers, schools and municipalities. The Narad solution enables such core business services as high speed data, virtual private networking (VPN) and VoIP and supports the delivery of outsourced IT services such as data back-up, disaster recovery and storage networks. Narad's MiniPop architecture, featuring Virtual Fiber(TM) in the first mile, allows cable operators to offer DOCSIS cable model services in plants that have not been upgraded with fiber.

Founded in July 2000 and based in Westford, Massachusetts, Narad Networks is a privately held company with venture funding from Polaris Venture Partners and other leading venture capital firms and industry entrepreneurs. For more information, visit www.naradnetworks.com