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Company Press Release
Redback Networks Expands Broadband
Horizons in 1999
SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 7, 1999--Redback
Networks, Inc., (Nasdaq:RBAK) announced today that it will close
1999 with a client base of more than 120 provider customers and
more than 1,200 Subscriber Management Systems(TM) (SMSs)
shipped, enabling mass broadband deployments in North America,
Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Redback, which enjoyed one of the most successful IPOs in history,
dramatically expanded its market base in 1999, extending
operations globally, and moving into the cable, wireless,
fiber-to-the-curb, dial offload, and multi-dwelling unit markets. With
its announced merger with Siara Systems, Redback will also
extend its service creation and management capabilities into the
optical and SONET markets.
"A year ago, Redback was a new start-up company with an
interesting vision. Today, Redback is a de facto component of most
major broadband implementations," said Daniel D. Briere,
president at TeleChoice, Inc., a strategic telecommunications
management consultancy that closely tracks the broadband
markets.
"The company's products have played an integral part in the
deployment of high-speed Internet access worldwide and in
developing paths to next generation revenues over those networks
-- on a mass-market scale. Redback's aggressive, leading edge
stance has brought it tremendous success so far and promises to
serve the company well in 2000."
Redback Milestones
With strong backing from the investment community, Redback
completed a successful IPO in the second quarter of 1999, ranked
at the time the fifth best public offering in history.
Redback continued to build momentum in subsequent months,
launching offices and sales forces in Europe and Asia and tripling
the company's headcount to more than 270 employees, mostly in
engineering and sales. Redback shipments for 1999 will total more
than 1,200 SMSs to more than 120 service provider and carrier
customers, with consistent revenue growth of more than 80 percent
during each of the first three quarters of 1999.
In the final quarter of 1999, Redback announced its agreement to
merge with Mountain View, Calif.-based Siara Systems. Siara is a
leading developer of optical, ASIC and IP technologies designed to
enable progressive service providers and carriers to deliver both
traditional time division multiplexing (TDM) and IP-based transport
and services.
"After a successful IPO, Redback has initiated a series of market
initiatives such as entry into the European and broadband wireless
access markets to address new markets with significant long-term
growth potential," said Ron Westfall, Current Analysis. "At the dawn
of the new millennium, Redback is poised to capitalize on
expanding broadband access market opportunities on a global
basis."
Several top-tier business publications highlighted the company's
successes including USA Today, theStreet.com, and Worth
Magazine, which placed Redback on their noteworthy companies
lists. Redback also received a hot-startup award (pre-IPO) from
Telecommunications Magazine.
Meeting the Demand for Broadband
Broadband became a reality in 1999. Pioneer Consulting
estimates that by the end of this year, 760,000 DSL subscribers
alone will be online. Forrester Research estimates that 25 percent
of all online households will have some kind of broadband access
by 2002. To connect and manage broadband subscribers on such
a large scale, service providers need what Redback provides:
rapid service provisioning and subscriber management.
"Redback has built its market share by filling the gap that prevented
service providers from delivering broadband on a mass-market
scale," said Dennis Barsema, CEO of Redback.
"We designed a four phase roadmap that charts a course for
providers deploying broadband. In the first two phases, Redback
helps providers connect and manage new broadband subscribers
using the support systems already in place. The third phase takes
service providers to mass deployment of broadband, provisioning
thousands rather than hundreds of subscribers. In the final phase,
we provide a critical roadmap for providers moving beyond
connectivity to service creation and content delivery."
During 1999, Redback announced many new large provider
customers standardizing on its SMS to deliver both wholesale and
retail broadband services. Carriers and network service providers
using Redback's SMS to wholesale access downstream to ISPs
include Bell Canada, GTE, Qwest and UUNET.
Providers utilizing SMSs to offer retail services include Concentric,
Earthlink and Verio. Today, Redback estimates that it owns in
excess of 80 percent of the broadband subscriber and service
management market worldwide.
In addition to enabling the growth of DSL, Redback also expanded
into five new technology markets this year: cable, wireless,
fiber-to-the-curb, dial offload, and multi-dwelling units (MDU).
Redback customers announced in these new markets include
Casema Earthlink Wireless, Inc. Oz.net O1 Communications and
InterQuest.
Casema, the leading Dutch cable operator, purchased Redback
SMSs to deploy cable Internet access, as well as online gaming
and video services, while Earthlink is deploying Redback's SMS to
serve its cable, fiber-to-the-curb, and DSL subscribers. Wireless,
Inc., is integrating Redback's SMS line of products into the network
design and build-out of wireless-DSL (W-DSL) solutions.
Oz.net and O1 are utilizing Redback's innovative dial off-load
functionality to outsource modem management and increase the
quality of the dial-up Internet service they offer to customers.
InterQuest, a San Francisco Bay Area-based service provider, is
incorporating Redback's SMS into its network to provide
high-speed Internet access to its clients' MDU tenants.
Redback's announced merger with Siara Systems will expand the
company's opportunities to offer integrated solutions across the
entire New Access Network, a network that will span all layers of
transport and services from the edge of the optical core to global
corporate networks and individual broadband subscribers.
Utilizing Siara's expertise in optical, silicon, and IP technologies,
Redback expects to accelerate providers' plans for leveraging the
New Access Network to increase revenue and decrease
operational costs.
Diversifying Services
If 1999 was the year of broadband connectivity, the new millennium
marks the emergence of value-added services. In anticipation of
this shift from connectivity to services, Redback built into its product
architecture the ability to manage and deliver value-added services.
In early 1999, Redback tasked TeleChoice with surveying
consumers, service providers, and businesses about the particular
broadband-enabled services they would purchase. TeleChoice
indicated in its report that service providers will need to layer
value-added services to their offerings in order to meet subscriber
demand while staying ahead in the highly competitive market.
"It is clear that planning and development efforts must begin now on
services and packaging that will add value and appeal to segments
beyond the early adopters of high-speed access," noted the report.
"Connectivity is quickly becoming a commodity. Service providers
must focus in the coming year on what services they can offer to
consumers and businesses to increase revenue and customer
fidelity," said Larry Blair, vice president of marketing at Redback.
"Redback recognized early on that the success of service providers
will hinge on their ability to diversify their service offerings and
continues to play an integral role in helping its customers define and
deliver these essential services."
Redback enables this shift from basic connectivity to services and
has already begun seeing service providers deploy specialized
services from the SMS platform. DirectLink, a leading Dallas
broadband Internet Service Provider (ISP), is differentiating its
service to customers by offering content filtering for consumers and
telecommuter applications for business customers.
Advanced TelCom Group Inc. (ATG), a California-based Integrated
Communications Provider (ICP), uses Redback's SMS to offer
Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), telecommuting applications, and
wholesale services in under-served, middle-sized markets across
the U.S. DigitalSelect, a Southeastern ISP, is growing its customer
base by offering tiered-pricing and distance-learning applications
from the Redback platform.
Redback's SMS is also being utilized in the content world --
Jump.net is utilizing Redback to offer a broadband portal, the first of
its kind to focus specifically on providing a content-rich experience
for broadband users.
About Redback Networks, Inc.
Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Sunnyvale, Redback
Networks, Inc., is a leading provider of advanced networking
solutions that enable carriers, cable multiple system operators
(MSOs), and service providers to rapidly deploy high-speed
broadband access to the Internet and corporate networks.
The company's Subscriber Management System(TM) (SMS)
connects and manages large numbers of subscribers using any of
the major high-speed access technologies such as Digital
Subscriber Line (DSL), cable, and wireless. The SMS received
Best of Show honors for WAN and remote access equipment at
NetWorldInterop, Las Vegas, in May 1998, and was honored by
Telecommunications Magazine as one of the "Lucky 13" hot
products in telecom at the SUPERCOMM '99 show in Atlanta.
The statements contained in this press release that are not purely
historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of
Section 21E of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended, including statements regarding Redback Networks'
expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future.
Forward-looking statements include statements regarding future
sales and business opportunities. All forward-looking statements
included in this document are based upon information available to
Redback Networks as of the date hereof, and Redback Networks
assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and
uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially
from those projected. These and other risks relating to Redback
Networks' business are set forth in documents filed by Redback
Networks with the SEC, specifically the most recent reports on
Form 10-Q.
Note to Editors: Redback and the Subscriber Management System
are trademarks of Redback Networks, Inc. Other trademarks,
service marks, and trade names belong to their respective owners. |
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