Industry Leader Establishes Direct Operations with Asia Pacific Headquarters in Singapore; Appoints Simon Naylor Vice President, Asia Pacific

WESTFORD, Mass., Nov. 21, 2000 – Sonus Networks (Nasdaq: SONS - news), a leading provider of voice infrastructure solutions for the new public network, today announced it is continuing its global expansion with the launch of its direct operations in Asia. The company has established its Asian headquarters in Singapore and has named Simon Naylor as vice president to spearhead the growth of Sonus throughout the entire Asia Pacific region, including Japan and China. 

Sonus' new direct operations will serve the rapidly growing Asia service provider market, including next-generation carriers as well as established service providers throughout the entire region. Additionally, this increased presence in Asia will enable the company to better support its current customers as they deploy global, next-generation voice networks. 

``The Asia Pacific region is one of the most aggressively growing of the world's telecommunications markets, and we're seeing tremendous interest among Asian service providers for next-generation voice solutions such as ours,'' said Gary Rogers, vice president, worldwide sales and marketing. ``We believe that the direct presence we're establishing today, along with our current distribution partners, will enable us to fully capitalize on this sizable opportunity.'' 

Sonus' Asia Pacific sales, marketing and support operations will complement the company's existing relationships with leading Asian distribution partners. Sonus has agreements with Nissho Iwai and Mitsubishi Corporation, under which the two companies provide the Sonus Packet Telephony suite in Japan, and with Samsung Corporation for distribution in Korea. 

Simon Naylor has been named Sonus' vice president, Asia Pacific and Japan, and will lead all sales, marketing and business functions for the region. In this role, Naylor will forge strategic partnerships with industry-leading telecommunications providers, while continuing to develop a network of resellers and channel partners. 

Naylor brings to Sonus significant experience in the communications industry and has spent more than 11 years in the Asia Pacific region. Prior to joining Sonus, Naylor was vice president, Asia Pacific for RSA Security, where he was responsible for the company's operations throughout the region, quadrupling revenues during his three-year tenure. Before RSA Security, Naylor was managing director, Asia Pacific, at ITS (now named Equant). Naylor began his career in Asia with Case/Dowty Communications, where he rose to the position of general manager, Asia Pacific. 

About Sonus Networks 

Sonus Networks, Inc. is a leading provider of voice infrastructure products for the new public network. Sonus' solutions enable service providers to deploy an integrated network capable of carrying both voice and data traffic, and to deliver a range of innovative, new services. The Sonus Open Services Architecture(TM) (OSA) and award-winning Packet Telephony suite cut the time-to-market for competitive new service products, allowing carriers and third-party developers to expand marketshare and build important new revenue streams. Its highly scalable products fully interoperate with and extend the life and utility of today's public network. Sonus embodies in its management and staff decades of experience in developing carrier-class voice, data and multimedia solutions for implementation in the world's largest networks. Sonus, founded in 1997, is headquartered in Westford, Massachusetts. Additional information on Sonus is available at http://www.sonusnet.com.

This release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of Sonus that involve risks and uncertainties. Readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual future events or results. Readers are referred to Sonus' Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2000, filed with the SEC, which identifies important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. These risk factors include, among others, the Company's ability to grow its customer base, dependence on new product offerings, market acceptance of its products, rapid technological and market change and manufacturing and sourcing risks. 

Open Services Architecture is a trademark of Sonus Networks, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated