Telecom Ottawa Selects Foundry Networks to Power One of the World's First Standards-Based 10-Gigabit Ethernet Metropolitan Area Network.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

NetWorld+Interop 2002 Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 8, 2002

Foundry Networks(R), Inc. (Nasdaq:FDRY), a leading provider of high-performance enterprise and service provider switching, routing and web traffic management solutions, today announced an agreement to supply a metropolitan area network to Telecom Ottawa, a broadband data utility operating in the telecom services market in Canada's national capital region of Ottawa, Ontario.

Telecom Ottawa is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hydro Ottawa Holding Inc., whose core businesses are focused primarily on electricity distribution. Telecom Ottawa owns and operates the all-optical network that protects and controls the electricity system in the Ottawa region -- a network now utilized for customers requiring high-speed bandwidth.

Telecom Ottawa selected Foundry's 10-Gigabit Ethernet solution, NetIron(R) Metro routers and ServerIron(R) Layer 4-7 traffic management switches. The company's metro network now includes a 10-Gigabit backbone and five major service points of presence (POPs). Its implementation represents one of the largest metropolitan-wide networks in North America configured for Gigabit Ethernet.

"After a long and exhaustive evaluation process, including many different vendor's products, we chose Foundry Networks' technology for its superior features, comprehensive product set, exceptional reliability and high performance," said Dave Dobbin, executive vice president, Telecom Ottawa. "We have deployed a network services platform that will enable customers in our region to source broadband data capacity on a utility basis -- that is, as much as they need, when they need it, reliably, and at prices that make sense. The Ottawa region has, we believe, been underserved for affordable broadband capacity delivered on a guaranteed basis. And supported by Foundry's technology, we've elevated the potential of our extensive fibre optic network infrastructure to provide the broadband data capacity that our customers demand."

The Telecom Ottawa network takes advantage of industry-leading capabilities:

-- Foundry's NetIron Metro Routers provide comprehensive Layer 2/3 features and
a comprehensive suite of MPLS functionality. This enables network providers to
operate a high-speed switched backbone with Layer 3 services implemented, where
necessary -- a cost-effective approach to maintaining maximum manageability for
improving return on capital investment.

-- The ServerIron Layer 4-7 traffic Management switches provide customers with
robust and scalable web-based services.

-- To manage the entire network, Telecom Ottawa is deploying the IronView(R)
Network Manager application, which allows network operators to track
configuration changes, perform software updates and identify and resolve
network failures, thereby minimizing network downtime.

-- The flexibility built into Foundry's Metro solution will enable Telecom
Ottawa to cost-effectively upgrade and expand its network as the business
evolves and customer demands change.

"Foundry's 10-Gigabit Ethernet Metro solutions offer service providers, like Telecom Ottawa, the flexible tools they need to build profitable Metro networks," said Bobby Johnson, president and CEO of Foundry Networks. "Foundry's 10-Gigabit Ethernet solution, NetIron Metro routers and ServerIron Web Traffic Management switches offer our service provider customers the superior price/performance, flexibility, reliability, scalability and value they demand from their next-generation networks."

About Telecom Ottawa

Telecom Ottawa is a broadband data utility that provides networking bandwidth to businesses and public-sector organizations in the Ottawa region. Building on many years experience operating a large, reliable utility network for electrical power, Telecom Ottawa's goal is to become a leading provider of affordable bandwidth in the Ottawa region. The company owns and operates the all-optical communications backbone that protects and controls the electricity system in the Ottawa region. This extensive broadband infrastructure, which includes hundreds of kilometres of fibre optic cable, is now equipped with Gigabit Ethernet technology, enabling the provision of bandwidth capacity for data networking, high-speed Internet access, e-business applications, videoconferencing and other advanced multimedia communications services.

About Hydro Ottawa

Hydro Ottawa Holding Inc. owns three core businesses: Hydro Ottawa Limited, the local electricity distribution utility in Ottawa serving 250,000 customers; Energy Ottawa Inc., a generation and energy services company; and Telecom Ottawa, a broadband data utility. The company's goal is to provide effective and efficient service to its customers and to build value for its sole shareholder, the City of Ottawa.

About Foundry Networks

Foundry Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:FDRY) is a leading provider of high-performance enterprise and service provider switching, routing and traffic management solutions including Layer 2/3 LAN switches, Layer 3 Backbone switches, Layer 4 - 7 traffic management switches and Metro Routers. Foundry's 4,000 customers include the world's premier ISPs, Metro service providers, and enterprises including e-commerce sites, universities, entertainment, health and wellness, government, financial, and manufacturing companies. Some of these customers include: AOL (NYSE: AOL), EarthLink, China Telecom, MSN (NASDAQ:MSFT), Verio, Cable & Wireless (NYSE: CWP), Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO), Incyte Genomics, Inc. (NASDAQ: INCY), Deutsche Bank, The University of Washington, University of Miami, Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique (INRIA) of France, The British Library, U.S. Army, Air Force and Navy, NASA and the National Space Development Agency of Japan. For more information about the company and its products, call 888/TURBOLAN or visit www.foundrynetworks.com.

Foundry Networks, NetIron, ServerIron, IronView, and the `Iron' family of marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Foundry Networks, Inc. in United States and other countries. All other trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.