Tiara Access Concentrators Selected for New Cable & Wireless Bundled T-1 Access Solution.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 19, 2000

Tiara 1200 and 1400 Access Concentrators To Deliver

Pioneering Multimegabit MLPPP Service to Customers

Tiara Networks today announced that Cable & Wireless (NYSE:CWP) has chosen Tiara Networks 1200 and 1400 Multimegabit Access Concentrators to support its NxT-1 Internet access, Cable & Wireless' new bundled T-1 Internet access solution. Using the industry-standard Multilink Point to Point Protocol (MLPPP) , Cable & Wireless' new NxT-1 Internet access service allows customers to bundle multiple T-1 circuits together for higher bandwidth and scalability, and is a less expensive alternative to DS-3. Cable & Wireless has specified Tiara Networks as an approved vendor of customer premises equipment for this new service.

"The Tiara 1200 and 1400 products were designed from the ground up for superior multimegabit access performance today, and they also have the horsepower to support new enhanced services in the future," said Rob Ayers, vice president of marketing at Cable & Wireless North America. "Vendors like Tiara put us ahead of the curve in bringing our customers standards-based solutions to multimegabit service. This is another example of how Cable & Wireless leads the industry in rolling out new technologies that offer more choices in bandwidth and services."

Cable & Wireless offers fractional DS-3 service, but the Tiara solutions allow it to deliver multimegabit service to customers who do not have access to DS-3 lines or are not yet ready to scale up to a full DS-3 circuit. "Service providers have wanted to meet the demand for multimegabit service, but they have waited for standards to emerge," said Greg Howard, principal analyst, The HTRC Group. "This new service from Cable & Wireless is a strong endorsement of the MLPPP standard as a means of offering scalable bandwidth between T-1 and DS-3."

"Being selected by Cable & Wireless opens up new opportunities for Tiara, both for participating in this groundbreaking service, and to build a foundation for future applications," said Dan Palmer, president of Tiara Networks. "This new MLPPP service allows us to demonstrate the significant performance, cost, and scalability benefits of our equipment for delivering flexible rates of multimegabit bandwidth to enterprise customers as well as ISPs that obtain services from Cable & Wireless."

About Cable & Wireless

Cable & Wireless is a major global telecommunications business with annual revenue of over US$14 billion and customers in 70 countries. Its businesses around the world offer a range of services spanning broadband data, Internet and voice services. Cable & Wireless' priority for expansion is the fast growing market of IP (Internet Protocol) and data services for business customers. It is making major investments in developing advanced networks and services in the US, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region to build the world's leading global IP infrastructure. With the capacity of this advanced infrastructure and its presence in key business markets, Cable & Wireless holds a unique position in terms of global coverage and services to business customers.

About Tiara Networks

Tiara Networks Incorporated, a Silicon Valley-based networking company, provides broadband access systems that supercharge IP and Frame Relay networks, enabling new-world networking solutions for both service providers and end users. For additional information, please visit Tiara Networks online at www.tiaranetworks.com.