iDirect Hits Satellite Milestone

HERNDON, Va. -- iDirect Technologies today announced that they have surpassed the milestone of their 100th hub router sold in the third quarter of 2004 in a contract to Telenor Satellite Services. This milestone makes iDirect the market leader for IP star topology satellite hub routers worldwide. The iDirect family of hub router solutions allows service providers to offer broadband service over satellite that matches the quality and performance of broadband terrestrial networks. This announcement comes after a year of aggressive growth, including the opening of new iDirect regional offices in Asia and Latin America.

The world's leading satellite network operators such as Intelsat and SES Americom currently utilize iDirect hubs for their global networking services, as do the world's top telecom carriers such as British Telecom, MCI, and Equant. Telenor plans to launch the satellite service utilizing the iDirect hub and remote equipment throughout the first quarter of 2005. During this period, Telenor will convert several customers from older VSAT technologies to the more advanced iDirect platform.

"Telenor is meeting the growing demand for cost-effective global broadband services and applications by leveraging our experience in the satellite-based communications industry and by expanding Telenor's portfolio of broadband services, powered by TerralinkTM, our exclusive network of IP infrastructure and applications," said Keith Regan, vice president of Engineering and Operations for Telenor Satellite Services. "We have selected iDirect's IP-based hub technology, with its proven record of performance and reliability, to enhance the delivery of our broadband services to our customers worldwide."

iDirect has been able to differentiate its technology within the satellite market by offering customers unique, efficient and practical solutions. A single 5IF iDirect hub router can access 5 different satellites, enable multiple real private networks, deliver aggregate speeds of up to 360 Mbps, and support C, Ku, and Ka band transponders with carrier class redundancy. The iDirect hub solution supports secure encrypted communications, and recently received the world's first FIPS 140-2 government encryption certification for its built-in encryption technology.

"This achievement is not only a testimonial to iDirect's superior technology, but to the dedication of the entire iDirect team" said John Kealey, CEO of iDirect Technologies. "Our entire organization is committed to delivering the best solutions and support to our customers from start to finish. We have seen the results of this commitment in our customers' loyalty and we continue to see it every day as we bring new customers onboard. Having such a respected and capable company as Telenor become our 100th hub customer makes this an even greater achievement for iDirect."

iDirect Technologies

Telenor ASA