Integral Access and AP Engines Deliver First Billing Solution that Enables Carriers to Collect Revenue for Differentiated IP Services

Combined Solution Unlocks Ability to Charge Customers for Usage of Broadband Data Services on a Per Connection-Per Service Basis

Chelmsford and Maynard, Mass. - June 26, 2001 - Integral Access®, Inc., the intelligent MPLS access company, and AP Engines, the only provider of a complete OSS integration platform for telephony and broadband provisioning and usage management, today announced a strategic partnership to deliver the first integrated solution that enables service providers to bill customers on a per connection basis for the usage of IP data services without modifying existing back office Operational Support Systems (OSS). The combination of AP InterLink™, AP Engines' OSS integration platform, and PurePacket™, Integral Access' IP/MPLS integrated access system, will allow service providers for the first time to generate incremental revenue by billing customers for actual usage of each individual data service they offer, not just broadband connectivity. The integration of these two products will also help simplify and expedite the activation of new services by synchronizing the flow of information between network equipment, and disparate provisioning, accounting, and order management systems.

The integration of AP InterLink and the PurePacketOMS, Integral Access' Operations Management System (OMS), will enable carriers to forward accounting information for data services from the PurePacketOMS into their existing OSS applications. This capability allows network operators deploying the PurePacket system to implement value-based billing, and business-to-business account settlement regardless of which back office accounting system they are using. The AP Engines - Integral Access partnership also provides workflow integration between the PurePacketOMS and legacy OSS applications, so that carriers can provision services from one central back office system across all PurePacket network elements.

"Our partnership with AP Engines will allow the PurePacketOMS to seamlessly interoperate and share service-level usage data with virtually any billing, accounting and operational support system," said Guy Chenard, vice president, marketing and business development, Integral Access. "This capability allows carriers to leverage the wealth of usage data collected by the PurePacketOMS and accurately bill for IP data services, without modifying their existing back office operational systems."

"This relationship allows traditional telco carriers to build new services, such as Voice over IP, video-on-demand and Virtual Private Network services, without the uncertainly of how they will be provisioned and monitored for billing purposes," said Jon Sieg, founder and CEO of AP Engines. "This is a major breakthrough for carriers that have been struggling -not with the technology issues associated with providing the services - but rather with the issues of how to turn the technology into a business."

About PurePacket

The PurePacket integrated access system enables carriers to deliver all services over a single network using virtually any transport media including copper pairs, xDSL, leased lines, and Fiber links. It is the first and only 100 percent packet-based solution that uses an MPLS-based fabric to place network intelligence at the customer premise, and make connectionless networks behave like their connection-oriented predecessors. PurePacket enables service providers to guarantee Quality of Service (QoS) for latency sensitive voice calls and video transmissions, dynamically allocate bandwidth between voice, video and data applications, and offer and bill for multiple classes of service. PurePacket is composed of PurePacketOUTburst customer premise Integrated Access Devices (IADs), PurePacketNode carrier network aggregation devices for central offices, co-locations, points of presence, PurePacketCompact for multi-dwelling/multi-tenant units (MDU/MTU), and the PurePacketOMS for network/element control and services management.

About AP InterLink

AP Engines' pioneer technologies are based on the AP InterLink OSS Integration Platform. This workflow-based product suite consists of AP InterLink Service Creation and AP InterLink Network Usage Management. AP InterLink Services Creation enables automated provisioning of voice, video and data services through existing OSS systems. AP InterLink Network Usage Management converts raw usage data into detailed billable records, improving the revenue of service providers by enabling settlement between business partners as well as better management of bandwidth resources.

About AP Engines, Inc.

AP Engines provides the industry's only complete OSS integration platform for telephony and broadband service providers. Its workflow-based product suite, AP InterLink, enables service providers to turn technology into revenue by bridging the gap between new services and current infrastructure. AP InterLink solves the complex problems of connecting multiple OSS. It facilitates open access standards, enables service creation, and provides network usage management to appropriately track and bill for services.

About Integral Access

Integral Access, Inc. provides multi-service packet-based access systems that enable carriers to offer differentiated services and combine voice/data on new generation IP-based networks, as well as traditional circuit switched infrastructures. The company offers a complete MPLS-based access network solution, which includes customer premise equipment, central office aggregation devices, and an operations management system for network control and services management. Integral Access is based in Chelmsford, Massachusetts and is privately held. To contact Integral Access call +1-978-256-8833, visit us on the Web at http://www.integralaccess.com, or write to info@integralaccess.com.

Note to editors: PurePacket and PurePacketNode are trademarks of Integral Access, Inc. OUTburst, Integral Access, and the Integral Access logo are registered trademarks of Integral Access, Inc..

Editorial Contacts:
Marc Gendron
Marc Gendron Public Relations
781-237-0341
marc@mgpr.net