BETHESDA, Md. -- Newest data from Dittberner Associates, Inc., (DAI) an internationally recognized telecommunications consulting firm, reveals that Ericsson (Nasdaq:ERICY) is the leader in Voice-over-Packet port shipments, with over 21% of cumulative VoP shipped as of 4th quarter 2003. Nortel Networks (NYSE:NT) is in second place with 17.1% of cumulative VoP ports shipped, followed by Sonus Networks (Nasdaq:SONS) in third place, with 10.6% of the total.

“The majority of Ericsson’s 21.3% market share derives from the shipment of its AXD 301 media gateway to British Telecom, who has installed over 9 million ports as Class 4 replacement gear,” explains Grace Terada de Tomé, Senior Analyst and Editor at DAI. She further stated that “ three major customers make up almost 50% of Nortel’s market share: US long distance providers Sprint, MCI and Verizon. Cisco (Nasdaq:CSCO) and Italtel are the main suppliers to Telecom Italia’s Class 4 replacement project”.

DAI not only tracks VoP port shipment numbers but follows the installed base breakdown by application. Currently, almost 40% of the total VoP ports shipped are used for long distance, followed closely by Class 4/5 applications. “There are very few pure Class 5 applications in commercial service,” explains Lilian Tau, VP of Consulting and Market Research, justifying the combination of Class 4 and Class 5 applications into one category for the moment. He continues, “we anticipate that there will be increasing numbers of pure Class 5 applications in the near-future.”

Sonus Networks leads the IP Offload market, with 42.2% of the total VoP ports shipped for this application. In the Class4/5 category, Ericsson dominates with almost 56% of the total; again this is primarily due to its large installed base of Class 4 replacement gear in BT’s network.

Nortel Networks is the leader in the Long Distance application area, with close to 29% of the total. Chinese equipment maker Huawei Technologies places second with roughly 23% of the total in this category.

Dittberner Associates Inc.