Mpower Communications Announces Volume Rollout of Tollbridge Gateways to Extend Its Growing VoSDSL Footprint
ROCHESTER, NY - May 31, 2000 - Mpower Communications Corp. (Nasdaq:MPWR), a facilities-based provider of broadband data, Internet and telephony services to business customers, today announced it has purchased additional networking equipment from TollBridge Technologies, a leading developer of high-quality voice-over-broadband solutions for a new generation of carriers, that will be used to further expand Mpower's Voice over Symmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (VoSDSL) footprint.
The Tollbridge TB200 Local Exchange Gateways perform an essential function in the converging network, interfacing VoSDSL with legacy switching platforms. These gateways connect with Class 5 digital telephony switches in central offices allowing Mpower to provide toll-quality voice and integrated data services over SDSL.
"This technology supports our aggressive national network expansion," said Roger Pachuta, senior vice president of network services for Mpower Communications. "By bundling high-speed SDSL connectivity and reliable, integrated communications services, business customers can realize a significant cost savings."
VoSDSL converts voice and data traffic into packets for transmission over a single copper wire between the customer premise and a central office. It allows end users to benefit from equal upstream and downstream capacity at speeds of up to 1.5 Mbps. This agreement with TollBridge will assist Mpower's entry into Austin, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas/Fort Worth, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Houston, Milwaukee, Nashville and San Antonio by this summer.
"It's deployments like this, that use voice gateways to bring VoDSL to legacy Class 5 switches, that are making the VoDSL market so exciting right now," said Tom Jenkins, Director of TeleChoice, Inc. a telecommunications strategy consulting firm. "Both Mpower and TollBridge are well positioned to take advantage of the burgeoning interest in this service."
"We believe Mpower Communications is one of the largest VoSDSL carrier providers in the world," said Gary Tauss, CEO of TollBridge Technologies. "By utilizing best-of-breed TollBridge gateway solutions, Mpower can deploy and manage on a large scale the integrated voice and data services they sell."
Mpower has deployed the TollBridge family of IP-based, VoSDSL solutions in all of its existing markets. By combining voice and data over SDSL in its IP network model, the company offers business customers a solution that combines high-speed, high-capacity two-way data transfers and dynamic bandwidth allocation for optimal use of both its voice and data traffic.
About TollBridge Technologies
Founded in March 1998 and located in Santa Clara, Calif., TollBridge Technologies is the leading provider of voice-over-broadband solutions to a new generation of carriers. TollBridge solutions change the economics of delivering voice services by allowing carriers that own Class 5 switches to use broadband access technologies, such as DSL or cable, to bypass the incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) and deliver toll-quality voice and integrated data services.
About Mpower Communications Corp.
Mpower Communications (a/k/a MGC Communications, Inc.) is a facilities-based broadband communications provider offering a full range of data, telephony, Internet access and Web hosting services for small and medium-size business customers. The company currently operates in California, Chicago, Atlanta, Southern Florida and Las Vegas. Mpower was recently ranked 12th in the Bloomberg Tech 100 listing of the fastest growing technology companies in the United States based on sales growth for the 1999 fiscal year. Further information about the company can be found at www.mpowercom.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this press release that state Mpower Communications and/or management's intentions, hopes, beliefs, expectations or predictions of the future are forward-looking statements. Management wishes to caution the reader these forward-looking statements are not historical facts and are only estimates or predictions. Actual results may differ materially as a result of risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, projections of future sales, returns on invested assets, regulatory approval processes, market conditions and other risks detailed from time to time in Mpower's Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
