September 16, 2008

GENBAND Acquires NextPoint Networks

GENBAN announced the acquisition of NextPoint Networks, a market share leader in carrier grade security solutions, including Session Border Controllers (SBC) and Security Gateways (SeG) for Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) solutions.

With this move, GENBAND adds a powerful layer of security capabilities to the company’s market-share leading gateway solutions. It also enhances GENBAND’s leadership position in gateways and puts the company on an aggressive product development path aimed at the integration of emerging technologies like security, control and packet inspection. GENBAND is also afforded a much larger market opportunity that is estimated at approximately $12 billion for the combined company over a five year period.*

The NextPoint transaction is the latest in a series of successful acquisitions and partnerships. These include GENBAND’s acquisition of Tekelec’s Switching Solutions Group in April 2007, and Nokia Siemens Networks’ Surpass IP trunking gateway product lines in April 2008, as well as the establishment of successful partnerships with leading network equipment manufacturers such as Alcatel Lucent, Nokia Siemens Networks, Nortel and NEC.

“We are extremely focused on building our next-generation IP gateway business and the acquisition of NextPoint fits perfectly into our product development roadmap,” said Charles Vogt, president and chief executive officer of GENBAND. “By adding very competitive SBC and FMC security technology into our gateway solutions, we significantly increase our addressable market. The acquisition of NextPoint allows us to fulfill the critical security requirements our customers and partners face as they move toward and embrace IP-based technologies in telecommunications networks.”

The NextPoint acquisition provides GENBAND with the ability to offer a flexible portfolio of stand-alone gateway and security products as well as to integrate key security technology into its current gateway platforms. Today GENBAND offers one of the broadest portfolios of gateway products through the G Series of low-, mid- and high-capacity converged gateways and the C Series of gateway controllers. With this acquisition, GENBAND adds the newly branded S Series of security-based solutions, including Session Border Control and Security Gateway products. As GENBAND expects its portfolio of products to further evolve, future product development that integrates robust security capabilities into its next-generation gateways will be branded the E Series. These combined solutions will allow GENBAND to further extend its reach into rapidly growing global market segments.

“We couldn’t be more pleased with the combination of GENBAND and NextPoint,” says David Walsh, Nextpoint’s Chairman and new member of the GENBAND Board of Directors. “Joining GENBAND’s market-leading gateway technology with our expertise in security creates a winning proposition neither company could have achieved on its own. Gateways and security are at the heart of an IP-based network and we look forward to fueling GENBAND’s continued growth with more powerful, comprehensive and innovative offerings.”

The acquisition of NextPoint accelerates GENBAND’s success at seamlessly and cost-effectively supporting the evolution of traditional networks toward IP for the transport of voice, video and data. By bringing proven security capabilities to the existing GENBAND gateway portfolio, GENBAND is now ideally positioned to further enable networks in the rapidly growing IP-to-IP space to communicate securely and efficiently. These complementary solutions address the needs of fixed, mobile and converged network operators and allow them to embrace emerging IMS migration and Long Term Evolution (LTE) network requirements.

By delivering industry-leading, best-of-breed solutions, GENBAND and NextPoint have built strong, strategic relationships with some of the world’s largest telecommunications equipment manufacturers. With this acquisition, GENBAND’s global customer count increases to more than 800 service providers in more than 80 countries.

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