HERNDON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 5, 1999--NEWBRIDGE (TSE:NNC) (NYSE:NN) Networking Solution Supports Agencies' Mission Critical Communications

Newbridge Networks (NYSE: NN) (TSE: NNC) today announced that it is providing a high performance networking solution to support the mission critical communications requirements of the U.S. Defense Department's agencies stationed in the Republic of Korea (ROK). These agencies, which include the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines, protect the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea. The high capacity asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network backbone provided by Newbridge will help the Defense Department realize its goal of bringing centralized network and service management capabilities across one virtual wide area network (WAN).

The network will span 24 locations throughout South Korea, supporting next-generation services and applications, including: high-resolution imaging for intelligence, maneuver control and medical applications, including secure and non-secure voice; Internet Protocol (IP); encrypted data; and broadcast quality video. It also supports the Armed Forces Korean Network's television and radio stations, which provides quality programming for military personnel and their families.

The flexible, highly scalable Newbridge(r) solution is comprised of the industry-leading Siemens / Newbridge MainStreetXpress(tm) 36170 MultiServices Switch, the MainStreetXpress 46020 Network Manager and the MainStreetXpress 36150 Access Switch - a high-capacity, multi-services platform designed to support native cell relay, broadcast quality video and IP services.

The MainStreetXpress 46020 Network Manager is a cost-effective, highly scalable networking solution that is capable of centrally monitoring and managing multiple-traffic networks, providing network partitioning - a feature that sets it apart from other vendor offerings. It can support and manage more than 250,000 service connections simultaneously, and its high scalability allows more than 120 operators located throughout the world to monitor the network at the same time.

"The goal of the Defense Department was to design a network with unmatched performance and reliability," said Giulio Gianturco, Executive Vice President and General Manager for North and South America, Newbridge Networks. "We believe the solution we have developed will serve as a model for other military organizations that look to the U.S. Department of Defense for procurement leadership." Newbridge Networks designs, manufactures, markets and services networking solutions to organizations in more than 100 countries. The Company leverages its relationship with a growing family of Newbridge Affiliate companies and strategic alliances with Siemens and 3Com Corporation to deliver seamless, end-to-end solutions. Newbridge customers include the world's 300 largest telecommunications service providers and more than 10,000 corporations, government organizations and other institutions. Founded in 1986, the Company employs more than 6,000 people on five continents. News and information are available at www.newbridge.com. Newbridge and logo are registered trademarks of Newbridge Networks Corporation.

MainStreetXpress is a trademark used by the Siemens / Newbridge alliance for comprehensive solutions in broadband communication. No agency relationship, partnership, or joint ownership of a legal entity is to be inferred or implied by the term alliance.