MetaSwitch and Data Connection Announce Record Profits.

By Metaswitch on Sep 23, 2003 8:00:00 AM

MetaSwitch and Data Connection Again Buck Industry Trend, Highlighting Core Company and Product Strengths  


LONDON-(BUSINESS WIRE)-Sept. 23, 2003-Data Connection (DCL) and its MetaSwitch subsidiary today announced record revenue and profit. For the financial year to August 31, 2003, earnings were $12M on revenues of $40M, representing the company's 22nd straight year of strong profitability supplying telecom technology to OEM and service provider customers. This financial performance and commercial stability is in stark contrast to most vendors in the telecommunications industry.  

"Our success is due to our sustained ability to recruit, develop and retain truly exceptional talent across the breadth of our operations, including engineering, support and commercial management," said Ian Ferguson, the company's founder and chairman. "We apply that talent to building and deploying best-of-breed advanced communications and telecom solutions." Ferguson added: "Over the last few years, customers have learned the hard way that it is necessary to scrutinize suppliers for their financial stability, and for their ability to deliver what they promise. Data Connection and MetaSwitch shine like beacons in both regards."  

All three of the company's divisions saw increases in their business performance.  

- MetaSwitch, supplier of the VP3500 Next Generation Class 5 Switch, now has more than 30 deployments in North America and Europe, covering Incumbent, Competitive, Rural/Independent and Cable/MSO carriers. The large increase in the number of MetaSwitch customers is due to the VP3500's ease of deployment and responsive support organization, a mature Class 5 and Centrex feature set, wide-ranging VoIP, VoATM and TDM support, and innovative new services, such as Web Self-Care, which allows subscribers to configure and manage their own telephone and Centrex features via a brandable Web portal.  

- The Internet Application Group (IAG) enjoyed strong continuing success with its industry-leading web-conferencing solution, MeetingServer, and its carrier-class unified communications technology (combining voicemail, email and webmail). The success was fueled in particular by new developments in Click-to-Call technologies and a VXML-based Next Generation messaging solution deployed by major service providers. Customers include British Telecom, COLT, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, SBC, SUN, Documentum and Spectel.  

- The Network Protocols Group (NPG) reinforced its position as the leading independent supplier of portable protocol software, with customers including Alcatel, Lucent, Nortel, Siemens, Cisco, IBM, CIENA and NEC. Its suite of IP routing protocols, including OSPF, ISIS and BGP, has been gaining market share and is being enhanced with IPv6 and multicast functionality. SIP software is a second area of major customer and revenue growth, in addition to the group's established products - ATM, MPLS (packet and optical), MGCP and Megaco/H.248. Sales of Enterprise Connectivity products also increased last year, both to OEMs such as HP, IBM and Microsoft, and also direct sales to enterprises such as the Federal Reserve Bank.  

"Looking to the future, our strength gives us the confidence to continue investing the majority of our resources in the on-going development of our products, while at the same time making our engineering expertise available to customers," said Phil McConnell, Data Connection's CEO.  

About MetaSwitch

MetaSwitch, a division of privately held Data Connection, is the result of 22 years of experience supplying leading-edge technology to the telecommunications industry. Data Connection's track record of consistent profitability ensures long-term commitment to product development and customer support. The widely deployed MetaSwitch VP3500 Next Generation Class 5 Switch offers service providers an immediate solution for broadband (VoIP and/or VoATM) and POTS service and a future-proof "softswitch" architecture for enhanced applications.  

For more information, see  www.\b metaswitch\b0 .com.  

About Data Connection  

Data Connection Limited (DCL) is the leading independent developer and supplier of IP Routing, LMP, MPLS, SIP, MGCP/Megaco, SCTP, ATM, Conferencing, Next-Generation Messaging, Directory and SNA portable products. Customers include Calient, CIENA, Cisco, Fujitsu, Hitachi, IBM Corp., Lucent, Microsoft, Nortel Networks, Sycamore, and Sun.  

Data Connection was founded in 1981 and is privately held. During each of the past 22 years its profits have exceeded 20% of revenue. The majority of its business is outside the UK, mostly in the US. This large proportion of overseas sales has led to the company being awarded two Queen's Awards for outstanding export performance.  

For more information, see  www.dataconnection.com.  

MetaSwitch and Data Connection have offices in Alameda, CA, Dallas, TX and Reston, VA in the US and London, Chester and Edinburgh in the UK.  

Data Connection and MetaSwitch are trademarks of Data Connection Limited and Data Connection Corporation. Brands and products referenced herein are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.  

Copyright (C) 2003 Data Connection Limited