Oki Electric Launches CenterStage(R) NX5000, a Carrier-Level Communication Server for Next Generation Networks.

TOKYO -- Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. today announced the launch of its CenterStage(R) NX5000, a carrier-grade communication server that guarantees high availability and performance suitable for next generation networks (NGN). It achieves the equivalent availability and performance level as the conventional PSTN circuit switched telephone exchanges at central offices. Thus, the CenterStage NX5000 provides a world-class IP-based communication server for telecom carriers based on a general server that can also add various applications for NGN.

Public IP telephony has been positioned as the "low-cost second phone line," the first phone line being traditional fixed lines. In Japan, however, the number of subscribers for IP telephony service has already reached 10 million, and IP telephony is becoming an important infrastructure as it can now make emergency calls. As NGNs become more widespread, various services will be integrated into IP-based communication servers, and this will require servers to be as reliable as switching systems for fixed phones.

"The CenterStage Series was first launched in June 2001 as a multimedia communication server specialized for telecom carriers. Taking advantage of our long-term experience in the development of carrier-grade softswitch equipment, our position as a pioneer in the Japanese VoIP market, and our track record of 5 million IP telephony subscribers with a single system, we developed the CenterStage NX5000," said Kichiro Akino, President of Network Solutions Company at Oki Electric. "We believe this highly-reliable server will enable our carrier customers to reduce costs and create new services. Oki plans to continue to develop highly reliable, high-performance servers to add to its CenterStage NX Series."

While switching systems for circuit switched telephone networks in Japan have a highly reliable operating rate of 99.9999% (1) (yearly downtime approximately 32 seconds), the costs for operation and maintenance are high because it is a dedicated system and it is difficult to add new services. Softswitches for public IP telephony, on the other hand, operates at a rate of 99.99% (1) (yearly downtime approximately 53 minutes), which is not reliable enough for them to replace switches for fixed phones. Because a single softswitch handles as many subscribers as a switching system, when subscribers for IP telephony increase, it is necessary to install roughly the same number of switching systems as with fixed systems, which will result in high maintenance cost.

Taking advantage of the "CenterStage HAPF" middleware, the CenterStage NX5000 achieves an operating rate of 99.9999%, equivalent to the rate of central office telephone exchanges. In addition, by increasing the subscriber per server factor to 800 thousand, eight times the previous products, it can dramatically reduce the maintenance and operation costs. CenterStage NX5000 can be built on AdvancedTCA(R) servers, an industry standard server architecture for next generation network platforms, and thus meets the needs of telecom carriers. In its database server, the server also includes Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RACs), known for their strong track record in mission critical databases for enterprises. It also provides HSS/HLR (Home Subscriber Server/Home Location Register) functions for the IMS standards. These platforms, when combined with the CenterStage NX5000 call control server service, providing the Call Session Control Function (CSCF) in IMS, can take over existing PSTN services.

By using both CenterStage NX5000 and Oki's SIP application server, SipAs(TM) on WebLogic, telecommunications carriers can also build the integrated service platforms that are essential for profitable services provisioning of the Next Generation Networks. Oki will exhibit the CenterStage NX5000 at the "ITU-T Workshop on NGN and its Transport Networks" (http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/worksem/ngn/200604/index.html), hosted by NGN Japan Host Committee, that will be held in the International Conference Center Kobe in Japan from April 20th to 21st.

(1) Based on Oki's data and calculation

Endorsement from Motorola Inc.

    Demand for communications servers is growing rapidly, and we are
very pleased that Oki Electric has selected Motorola's open,
standards-based AdvancedTCA(R) platform for the next generation of the
CenterStage NX5000. The Motorola Centellis(TM) 3000 platform is
compliant with SA Forum standards and supports demanding applications
requiring 5NINES+ availability in a ready-to-use server package. This
choice will enable Oki Electric and its customers to focus on bringing
their high value applications to market more quickly, at a lower total
cost of ownership and with greater flexibility than previously
available.

                                                         Wendy Vittori
                         Corporate Vice President and General Manager,
                                     Embedded Communications Computing
                                                         Motorola Inc.


    Endorsement from Oracle Corp. Japan

    We are delighted with Oki's launch of "CenterStage NX5000," the
large-scale server for telecom carriers, in which "Oracle Database"
and the grid computing technology, "Oracle Real Application Clusters,"
are selected. "Oracle Real Application Clusters" can sustain massive
amount of telephone service accesses, providing high performance, and
can immediately switch access into normal database even when failure
occurs, offering a 24/7 steady operation. Oracle Corporation Japan
supports Oki's CenterStage NX5000 and believes it will respond to the
needs for the telecom carrier customers.

                                                      Masaaki Shintaku
                                                                   CEO
                                              Oracle Corporation Japan


    Endorsement from Hewlett-Packard Japan, Ltd.

    HP Japan welcomes Oki's CenterStage NX5000. We will continue to
work together with Oki Electric to provide servers and support
operational management, in order to establish a platform with high
availability and high performance that is suitable for service
infrastructures used in NGN

                                                   Yoshitake Matsumoto
                                            Director & General Manager
 Enterprise Storage & Servers business unit Technology Solutions Group
                                            Hewlett-Packard Japan, Ltd

About Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.

Founded in 1881, Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. is Japan's first telecommunications manufacturer, with its headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. With the corporate vision, "Oki, Network Solutions for a Global Society," Oki provides top-quality products, technologies and solutions to its customers through its info-telecom system business, semiconductor business and printer business. All three businesses function as a collective force to create exciting new products and technologies that satisfy a spectrum of customer needs in various markets. Visit Oki's global web site at http://www.oki.com/.

Notes:

--CenterStage is a registered trademark of Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. in Japan

--AdvancedTCA is a registered trademark of the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group.

--SipAs is a trademark of Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. in Japan.

--BEA and WebLogic are trademarks or registered trademarks of BEA Systems, Inc.

--Other names of companies and products are trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective companies and organizations.