Foundry Networks Propels to Number Three Position in Worldwide Carrier Ethernet Switch/Router Market

Aug 7, 2008 (Al-Bawaba via COMTEX) -- FDRY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Foundry Networks(R), Inc. (NASDAQ: FDRY), a performance and total solutions leader for end-to-end switching and routing, today announced that it has catapulted into the number three position in the worldwide Carrier Ethernet Switch/Router (CESR) market, according to leading industry research firm Heavy Reading, the market research division of TechWeb's Light Reading. Worldwide sales of Carrier Ethernet Switch/Router platforms by Foundry(R) have increased consistently and grown market share sequentially in every quarter over the last six quarters, according to the report. The report, which profiles 12 CESR vendors, shows demand for CESR platforms surged 26 percent year-over-year[1] through 1Q 2008, demonstrating significant demand for the technology. "Foundry Networks has demonstrated impressive growth in the Carrier Ethernet Switch/Router market in the last six quarters," said Stan Hubbard, senior analyst for Heavy Reading. "By the end of 1Q 2008, the company more than doubled their market share and revenue stream from Carrier Ethernet. Much of that growth is attributed to large carrier and service provider wins, including at least four top tier service providers, deploying its NetIron(R) XMR/MLX routers and FastIron(R) platforms as the integral part of metro and Internet core backbones." According to Heavy Reading's June 2008 report, CESR growth will be driven by a combination of overlapping factors, including: - A transition from separate Packet over SONET/SDH (POS), asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), IP, and legacy Ethernet networks toward converged Ethernet/MPLS networks. Heavy Reading's research indicates CESR products are being strongly embraced to support Ethernet services worldwide.- Upgrades from traditional Ethernet switches to higher-performance CESR platforms that enable operators to offer real-time enterprise services with Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees. - New Ethernet switch/router builds related to the active triple-play/IP Television (IPTV)/ Video on Demand (VOD) market.- Additional CESR deployments in support of mobile traffic backhaul, a market which is likely to emerge as a significant opportunity in coming quarters due to rising bandwidth requirements straining the current infrastructure. Foundry Networks has continued to generate a growing portion of its overall switch and router business from service providers in the beginning of 2008. The introduction of a variety of performance-leading CESR platforms during the past two years is helping drive carrier sales, which increased to 29 percent of overall revenue in the first quarter 2008. Foundry's service provider focus is anchored in a broad portfolio of advanced multiservice routers in the NetIron XMR Series and NetIron MLX Series, which are complemented by the performance-driven FastIron family of 10 gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) switches for highly efficient delivery of services at the metro edge. Foundry's Carrier Ethernet solutions provide highly scalable, resilient and efficient options for building converged broadband infrastructures that support Layer 2/3 virtual private network (VPN) services, residential triple-play services, and mobile traffic backhaul applications. To enable incremental scalability and exceed the demands of new and next-generation data centers, NetIron XMR/MLX Series router users can leverage carrier trunks to aggregate up to 32 ports of 10 gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) and scale to a record-setting aggregated link capacity of 320 gigabits per second (Gbps). This technological breakthrough successfully allows carriers to efficiently increase capacity in the metro and core layers beyond the 10GbE barrier before the impending 40GbE and 100GbE standards. With network reliability being at top of mind for carriers, Foundry has developed Metro Ring Protocol II (MRP2), which enables the creation of multiple overlapping network rings without a single point for failure. Using Foundry's Carrier Ethernet switching and routing solutions, service providers can create a virtual ultra-high speed core by trunking (bonding) together multiple 10GbE links, with smaller 10GbE rings. Should there be a break in network transmission, MRP2 works in milliseconds to find an alternative path to route traffic, thereby, offering considerable reliability gains. "Carrier Ethernet Switches/Routers have played an influential part in Foundry's service provider strategy," said Ahmed Abdelhalim, director of product management and marketing for Foundry's High-End and Service Providers Systems Business Unit. "Our quantum leap to capture the number three position in the worldwide Carrier Ethernet market is a testament to Foundry's focus and capabilities in the service provider switch/router space. Attention to this rapidly growing technology will translate to continued Carrier Ethernet innovation and progress allowing advanced enterprise and consumer services to thrive." [1] Based on Heavy Reading, Carrier Ethernet Switch/Router Quarterly Market Tracker, Stan Hubbard, June 2008About Heavy ReadingHeavy Reading is an independent market research organization offering quantitative analysis of telecom technology to service providers, vendors, and investors. Its mandate is to provide the comprehensive competitive analysis needed today for the deployment of profitable networks based on next-generation hardware and software. Web address: http://www.heavyreading.com About Foundry NetworksFoundry Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: FDRY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) is a leading provider of high-performance enterprise and service provider switching, routing, security and Web traffic management solutions, including Layer 2/3 LAN switches, Layer 3 Backbone switches, Layer 4-7 application switches, wireless LAN and access points, metro and core routers. Foundry's customers include the world's premier ISPs, metro service providers, and enterprises, including e-commerce sites, universities, entertainment, health and wellness, government, financial and manufacturing companies. For more information about the company and its products, call 1.888.TURBOLAN or visit www.foundrynet.com. Safe Harbor StatementThe foregoing may contain "forward-looking statements" which are based on management's current information and beliefs as well as on a number of assumptions concerning future events made by management. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements by executives or spokespeople regarding Foundry's positioning and potential plans. The forward-looking statements in this press release are only predictions and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially. Foundry assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Furthermore, no statements made by Foundry Networks, Inc. ("Foundry") in this press release, or information contained herein, may be deemed to constitute either an amendment of an existing agreement or an implied new commitment, promise or legal obligation by Foundry to develop or deliver any specific product, feature or functionality.

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