NewStep Networks Joins Femto Forum



    NewStep Networks Inc., a market and technology leader in service
    convergence solutions for carriers and enterprises, today announced
    that it has joined the Femto Forum, an independent organization formed
    to standardize, support and promote femtocell deployments worldwide.
    The forum brings together the foremost femtocell product and solution
    vendors with major global mobile operators assessing the technology.

    As convergence evolves, operators will deploy multiple strategies
    to meet end user requirements. Voice Call Continuity (VCC) and
    femtocell technologies will be required to meet the broad demands
    dictated by the convergence transition. As this evolution occurs,
    NewStep is committed to enabling a consistent user experience
    regardless of the underlying technology. NewStep´s Converged Services
    Node (CSN) utilizes session management capabilities to enable VCC and
    will leverage the same technology to inherently support femtocell
    solution delivery.

    NewStep was one of the original authors of the VCC standard and
    believes that participating in the standardization of femtocell
    solution development and delivery is critical to enable operators and
    enterprises to leverage a more efficient, standardized approach to
    delivering on the promise of fixed mobile convergence.

    "Joining the Femto Forum supports NewStep´s ongoing strategy of
    providing a single service convergence platform that supports multiple
    access mechanisms for delivering convergence solutions," said Shannon
    Bell, vice president of product management, NewStep. "As one of the
    early contributors and key authors of the VCC specifications for 3GPP,
    NewStep is committed to providing the same level of focus and support
    to the ongoing progress of the Femto Forum and the continued drive for
    standardization.

    "We are excited about working with NewStep within the Femto Forum
    community. The Forum is committed to creating a more standardized
    environment that enables femtocell and fixed mobile convergence
    adoption," said Simon Saunders, the Femto Forum´s Chairman. "Veteran
    organizations such as NewStep will strengthen our efforts in creating
    an environment that enables service providers and enterprises around
    the world to leverage a more efficient approach with femtocell
    technology."

    Femto Forum members are committed to promoting standards-based
    solutions across the industry and to the relevant industry standards
    bodies. In addition to the promotion of femtocell deployment and
    standardization, the forum is focused on building and maintaining an
    eco-system that delivers the most commercial and technically efficient
    solutions, as well as addressing several key technical issues,
    including radio planning and control, provisioning and management, and
    device-to-core network connectivity.

    About NewStep Networks

    NewStep Networks is an award-winning provider of seamless session
    management solutions based on its patented CSN platform. NewStep
    solutions enable enterprises and consumers to have an "any device, any
    place, any content" communications experience by facilitating the
    movement of information across all access technologies. Currently
    deployed and handling millions of calls per day, NewStep Networks´
    platform offers a rich set of features that works with today´s
    technology and devices, as well as those being developed for tomorrow.
    For more information, visit www.newstep.com.

    About The Femto Forum

    Femtocells are low-power wireless access points that operate in
    licensed spectrum to connect standard mobile devices to a mobile
    operator´s network using residential DSL or cable broadband
    connections. The Femto Forum (www.femtoforum.org) has been set up to
    promote the wide-scale adoption of femtocells. The Forum will support
    and drive the adoption of industry wide standards and common
    architectures to enable the widespread adoption & deployment of
    femtocells by operators around the world. It will direct and implement
    a multi-faceted marketing campaign to raise the profile, drive
    technology development & deployment and to promote the potential of
    femto solutions among industry stakeholders, journalists, analysts,
    regulators, special interest groups, standards bodies and consumers.

    The Femto Forum, the independent industry association that
    supports femtocell deployment worldwide.

    Note to Editors:

    NewStep Networks, etc., are trademarks of NewStep Networks. All
    other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.