Netopia and Precidia Team to Offer POS Solution; Joint Development and Marketing to Improve POS Transactions.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

Electronic Transactions Association Conference

Booth #131

EMERYVILLE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 20, 2004

Netopia, Inc. (Nasdaq:NTPA), a market leader in broadband gateways and service delivery software, and Precidia, a global leader in IP enabling products for a wide range of industries, announced the two companies will work together to offer retailers an efficient and cost-saving Point-of-Sale (POS) solution.

Retailers today use slow dial-up lines, costly frame relay or dedicated circuit lines to connect remote POS terminals to credit card processing centers and the retailer's corporate headquarters. Many retailers are migrating to broadband for POS applications to avoid the expense of frame relay and dedicated circuit lines as well as the poor performance of dial-up service. In the past, such a migration required retailers to replace all their existing POS terminals. Netopia's netOctopus(R) POS Manager, broadband routers and Precidia's POSConnect Products, the EtherDial and Ether232Plus, allow retailers to migrate to IP, without replacing their terminals, at a significant cost savings.

When retailers want to migrate to broadband, they need only connect their existing terminals to the Precidia EtherDial instead of the modem or Frame Relay line. Precidia's device accepts the data from the existing terminal and converts it to Internet Protocol (IP) traffic. The IP traffic is sent to Netopia's router, supporting secure VPNs and a managed firewall. Both the Precidia EtherDial and the Netopia router are managed by the netOctopus POS Manager. By using the combination of Netopia and Precidia products, retailers can migrate to a secure broadband connection to increase transaction speeds--reducing the time required to execute transactions from approximately 30 seconds to less than a few seconds--and eliminate the need to retrofit their existing POS devices.

The netOctopus POS Manager can manage new and existing hardware with simple commands by a network administrator at a single, central location. One management system can manage the Netopia broadband equipment, secure VPN connections, security, and the Precidia device, enabling simplified installations and ongoing maintenance of highly distributed retail chains.

"Retail chains want to benefit from low cost, high speed broadband lines to improve credit card transaction times, but they want to do it in the most cost-effective way possible," said Dano Ybarra, vice president of marketing, Netopia. "By partnering with Precidia, we are able to help retailers leverage their existing POS equipment and eliminate the high cost and complexity typically associated with retrofitting POS terminals."

"Precidia is committed to providing technologies that help businesses improve productivity. Our partnership with Netopia is key to enabling retailers to move to broadband without the cost of retrofitting their existing Point-of-Sale (POS) equipment," said Deepak Wanner, president of Precidia Technologies.

Netopia and Precidia will demonstrate their joint capability at the Electronic Transactions Association conference April 20 - 22 in Las Vegas, NV. Netopia will use a traditional POS terminal from Verifone, which uses dial-up for credit card authentication, connected to a Precidia device to demonstrate a successful migration to broadband. People will be able to see first hand how the Precidia EtherDial successfully sends data over the Internet. The Precidia EtherDial will connect to a Netopia router, which will create a VPN for a secure communication session to a payment processor site. This connection allows the data originally intended to travel over a dial-up line for authentication to travel over a secure VPN connection through the Public Internet for authentication. The authentication time is reduced from approximately 30 seconds to less than a few seconds.

For additional information or to arrange a demonstration, please contact Netopia at 1-510-420-7400, or visit Netopia at ETA in Booth #131.

About Precidia

Precidia Technologies Inc. is a global leader in the design and manufacture of IP access devices for a wide range of industries, including retail payments and building automation. With customers in over 70 countries, Precidia's unique product line of wired and wireless access devices seamlessly migrate stand-alone serial equipment onto more sophisticated IP networks. For more information, visit Precidia on the Web at http://www.precidia.com

About Netopia

Netopia, Inc. is a market leader in broadband and wireless products and services that simplify and enhance broadband delivery to residential and business-class customers. Netopia's offerings provide carriers and broadband service providers with feature-rich DSL smart modems, routers and gateways, software that simplifies installation and reduces ongoing support needs, as well as value-added services to enhance their revenue generation. Netopia's Wi-Fi CERTIFIED(TM) gateways include 3-D Reach(TM) technology delivering enhanced wireless range, security and performance.

Netopia's DSL smart modems, routers and gateways come with a suite of installation wizards and support utilities that offer a comprehensive approach to installation, deployment, service provisioning, application setup, self-diagnostics and troubleshooting. Netopia provides value-added services with its server software platform, including the netOctopus(R) suite of gateway and PC management and customer support software solutions, a server-based Parental Controls subscription service, and the Web eCommerce server software. netOctopus Desktop Support and eCare software enable broadband service providers and enterprises to support customers and devices by remotely viewing and operating the desktop or other device.

Netopia has established strategic distribution relationships with leading carriers and broadband service providers including BellSouth, Covad Communications, EarthLink, Eircom, Hong Kong Telecom/PCCW, MegaPath Networks, Netifice, SBC Communications, Swisscom and Verizon.

Headquartered in Emeryville, Calif., Netopia's common stock trades on The Nasdaq Stock Market(R) under the symbol "NTPA." Further information about Netopia can be obtained via phone [phone], fax [phone], or on the Web at www.netopia.com.

All company names, brand names and product names are trademarks of their respective holder(s).