Telstra International Launches Asia's First Enterprise VoIP Solution with Distinctive Classes of Service.

Facilitated Migration of Existing Voice Communications to VoIP with Full Control of Cost and Quality

HONG KONG -- Telstra International (Telstra) today announced the launch of "Global Voice over IP" (Global VoIP), marking its strategic move to provide IP Telephony (IPT) and voice services to enterprises beyond the Australian market. Telstra's Global VoIP is based on an award winning Next Generation Network (NGN) and customer premise equipment (CPE), while its three voice Classes of Service (CoS) and imbedded IP monitoring systems sets a new industry standard for terminating IP originated voice traffic, maintaining quality and network security.

Telstra's Global VoIP can lower termination costs by over 50 percent compared to traditional telephone services while saving ongoing maintenance and operational costs associated with traditional PBX systems. While cost savings is one key driver for IPT adoption, companies are also now using IPT and VoIP as key communication tools to improve business resiliencies, increase team collaboration and enhance communication needs.

This initiative is well-timed as enterprises are beefing up their investment on IP telephony. According to Access Markets International (AMI) Partners Inc, spending on IP telephony by small businesses (SMB) (1-999 employees) across the Asia-Pacific region will exceed US$500 million this year, up more than 40 percent over last year. Overall, SMB spending on IP telephony (including IP Centrex, IP PBX and IP phones/adaptors) is set to experience compound annual growth rates of more than 45 percent in the next five years.

Telstra's Global VoIP off-net termination solution comes with three selectable Classes of Service - premium, enhanced and standard - that can be applied to each originating extension on the network. "In order to manage costs and quality, customers may choose a different CoS for different phone extensions on their network depending on the unique needs of each user. By not limiting choice to only one class for the entire office, Telstra's Global VoIP service brings flexibility and cost savings to the enterprise," said John Paitaridis, Regional Director Asia, Telstra International.

As many customers are adopting IPT, the major concerns still include; Quality of Service (QoS), security and reliability. Telstra's Global VoIP solution addresses these issues by:

* Offering the industry's first extension based QoS selector based on reliable carrier grade voice termination agreements.

* Ensuring closed and tightly controlled networks through the use of virtual private networks

* Providing industry leading IP monitoring technology to provide service level agreements (SLA) with target metrics around MOS and VoIP performance statistics.

Embedded in Telstra's award winning network is the Fluke/Visual Networks VoIP MRI (management, reporting and integrity) monitoring probes. Our multinational clients will be able to take advantage of VoIP call visibility, monitoring and reporting functionality bundled within the IP VPN product including application SLAs with target metrics for MOS and VoIP specific performance measures.

Enterprises that adopt the latest feature rich IPT environment increase communication efficiencies though technology such as session initiation protocol and unified messaging while significantly lowering termination costs through a single voice provider for all their multinational offices and nodes. "Telstra has an award winning IP VPN network, over 100 bilateral voice relationships with carriers worldwide, and strong network management skills - all which give Telstra a competitive edge in the international telephony market. Couple these factors with the huge growth we are seeing in the adoption of IPT, make the next logical step for Telstra to extend its VoIP offerings to enterprise customers with multinational offices in Asia, Europe and the US," said Paitaridis.

"Within the Asia Pacific region, IP telephony will be driven by enterprises in Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and New Zealand," says Raju Chellam, AMI-Partners' Vice President (Asia-Pacific). "The long-term savings that IP telephony can achieve presents a compelling value proposition that IT managers and CIOs cannot ignore. This becomes especially acute for companies that have multiple locations or branches within the country or abroad."

Telstra Global VoIP service allows end-users to take full advantage of what IPT has to offer;

* a converged next generation network that supports both data and voice

* carrier grade VoIP termination

* variable classes of service to control cost and quality

* a flexible, quickly deployed end to end IPT solution

Telstra Global VoIP service offerings are immediately available through Telstra sales offices in Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan. For more information on the service, please visit www.telstra-asiasales.com.

About Telstra

The parent company of the Telstra Group, Telstra Corporation Limited is a Fortune 500 company. Telstra is one of the world's largest telecommunications companies, Telstra is a true Asian solutions provider offering end-to-end ICT solutions to all enterprise customers and service providers operating in the Asian markets. With its regional headquarters in Hong Kong, Telstra International Asia has business offices in China (Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou), Singapore, Japan and India (Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi). In addition, Telstra has ownership interests in physical Network Points of Presence (POPs) in twelve Asian countries, including Taiwan, Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines and Malaysia.