Austin, Texas – General Bandwidth, a leading Voice over IP (VoIP) equipment manufacturer enabling rapid deployment and new service revenue generation over broadband networks, announces that it has raised $18 million in new financing.  This new round is indicative of the excitement and potential for growth in Voice over IP solutions and reflects the strategic role that highly interoperable media gateways are playing in bridging legacy circuit-switched networks to packet-based next generation networks.  In addition, the company appoints Michael T. Flynn to its Board of Directors and announces a new Technical Advisory Board comprised of industry dignitaries.

The $18 million in funding will further establish General Bandwidth’s position as a market leader of next generation media gateway solutions, accelerate research and development, and broaden the company’s coverage in both domestic and international markets.  Oak Investment Partners led the new round with participation from Sevin Rosen, Venrock Associates, Invesco, Thomas Weisel Capital Partners, Trellis Partners, Star Ventures, Wheatley Partners, HLM, Protostar, Granite Global, Siemens Venture Capital and Texas Instruments.

“Participation from our existing investors in an oversubscribed round of funding validates investor confidence relative to the progress General Bandwidth is making in the VoIP marketplace,” said Charles Vogt, the company’s president and chief executive officer.  “Industry consensus is that the VoIP equipment market will surpass $9 billion by 2009.  With over 150 media gateway switches deployed spanning 40 diverse service providers, we are well positioned to be amongst the industry leaders in the VoIP market.”

General Bandwidth’s G6® Universal Media Gateway platform is the architectural basis for multiple media gateway products offered by General Bandwidth.  The G6 platform is a carrier class VoIP services platform with the capability to simultaneously support multiple service architectures including legacy Class 5 switches, SIP-based feature servers, and next generation softswitches.  The platform is currently being used by more than 40 customers in a wide array of IP, ATM, and circuit-switched core and access networks.
 
“General Bandwidth continues to secure an impressive list of Tier I service providers,” said Dave Walrod, General Partner, Oak Investment Partners. “The company’s product versatility is reflected in the fact that their customer base is diverse.” 

In its sixth year, General Bandwidth has achieved significant technology milestones for its universal media gateway platform including NEBS-3, OSMINE, RUS and PacketCable™ certifications.  The G6 platform is the access media gateway of choice for incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) connecting packet-based fiber-to-the-premises to legacy Class 5 circuit switches.  The G6 platform is also deployed in many Tier I CLECs for VoIP service delivery.  General Bandwidth recently announced its G6 Reverse MG that allows softswitch control of circuit-based remote terminals such as Digital Loop Carriers (DLC) and cable Host Digital Terminals (HDT), bringing new services to customers on legacy access and network cost reductions to service providers.

General Bandwidth also appointed Michael T. Flynn to its board of directors.  Flynn recently served as a corporate officer of ALLTEL Corporation, a communications company that provide wireless and wireline local, long-distance, network access and Internet services.  In addition to General Bandwidth, Flynn serves on the board of directors for WebX, Airspan, Calix and BayPackets.

“Conversion from circuit to packet will not be instantaneous since core and access networks are changing at their own pace,” said Mr. Flynn.  “This makes a versatile media gateway all the more valuable for service providers who will need to bridge the gap between legacy and packet networks for a long time to come.”

In addition to Mr. Flynn joining the Board of Directors, an Advisory Board has been put in place to advise on technology and market direction.  The Advisory Board members include:

• Patrick N. Smith – Chairman of Natural Convergence and Advisor in Wesley Clover Investments.  Previously Vice President of Systems Integration and Technology Planning at Sprint Technology Services and CTO at SHL Systemhouse, he serves as Chairman of the Board for Natural Convergence and is on the boards of Ubiquity, Convedia, March Networks and Encore.

• Abir Hnidi – CTO of Encore Networks.  Prior to joining Encore Networks, Mr. Hnidi was Assistant Vice President of Network Engineering with Santera Systems, Assistant Vice President of Systems Engineering at Accelerated Networks, and held various senior technical positions at Ascend Communications and Lucent Technologies.

• Brian Henrichs – CTO of HyperEdge.  Mr. Henrichs most recently served as Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Development with General Bandwidth, and prior to that he was Vice President and General Manager of the Broadband CPE business unit at Westell Technologies.

• Stephen Dukes – President and CEO of Imaginary Universes.  Mr. Dukes’ previous positions include Vice President, Digital Broadband Technology at MediaOne, Vice President, Technology with TCI, and Vice President, Advanced Network Development at CableLabs® responsible for network architecture, multimedia and telephony. 

• Jay T. Hilbert – Senior Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing at Somera.  Mr. Hilbert previously served as Senior Vice President of Global Sales, Marketing and Customer Service at ADC and as Group Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Alcatel USA.

• Fima Vaisman – Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Sabeus Photonics.  Prior to Sabeus, Mr. Vaisman held the position of Vice President of Marketing and Product Management at Centillium Communications and as Vice President of Marketing and Product Management at Accelerated Networks. 

About The G6 Universal Media Gateway Platform
The G6 Universal Media Gateway platform is the architectural basis for the multiple media gateway products offered by General Bandwidth.  The G6 platform is a true carrier class VoIP services platform with the capability to simultaneously support multiple service architectures including legacy Class 5 switches, SIP-based feature servers, and next generation softswitches.  The platform supports a variety of packet and PSTN interfaces, scaling from 240 to 16,128 simultaneous DS0s in a single chassis.  The company markets the following media gateway products globally:

G6 Access MG
Providing Class 5 services over VoIP and AAL1/AAL2 broadband networks using existing GR-303, TR-08, V5.2, or T1/E1 CAS interfaces; extending the life of the legacy switching network.

G6 Reverse MG
Proven interoperable with the leading wireline and cable-based softswitches via MGCP or H.248, the G6 Reverse MG enables new IP-based features on legacy remote terminals by enabling their call control to be softswitch-based. The product is applicable to most GR-303, TR-08, and V5.x remote terminals.

G6 Trunking MG
Proven interoperable with the leading wireline and cable-based softswitches, the G6 Trunking MG provides circuit-to-packet media conversion using MGCP, H.248, or SIP softswitch call control.  The product is one of only a few media gateways awarded PacketCableTM Media Gateway qualification for the cable network infrastructure.  The product also provides SIP to PRI interworking for hosted IP communications services.

G6 Universal MG
The industry’s first universal media gateway serving the ILEC/PTT, CLEC, and MSO networks, the G6 Universal MG, provides simultaneous support for all access, reverse and trunking media gateway applications on a single G6 chassis.  The product delivers seamless, risk-free migration to next generation services to address evolving broadband and voice service needs.  The consolidation and management of voice services through a single G6 significantly reduces capital and operational expenses.

About General Bandwidth
General Bandwidth is a leading provider of Voice over IP infrastructure solutions spanning more than 40 service providers worldwide. General Bandwidth delivers broadband solutions addressing a full range of applications, including residential and business access, trunking and enhanced VoIP solutions.  With eight patents issued and ten pending, General Bandwidth’s flagship G6 Universal Media Gateway and network management system are OSMINE, RUS, PacketCable, and NEBS-3 certified, produced in a TL9000 quality system, and deployed in ILECs, CLECs, RLECs and Cable service provider networks worldwide. General Bandwidth was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.   Additional information on General Bandwidth is available at www.genband.com.

Contacts:
Noah Sessions
GENBAND Inc.
+1.972.265.3664 (office)
noah.sessions@genband.com

Trademark notes:  G6 and General Bandwidth are registered trademarks of General Bandwidth Inc.