Combined Efforts Enhance Billing Capabilities For Content Delivery Network Providers
SADDLE BROOK, NJ -- January 23, 2001 -- Apogee Networks, a leading global provider in Content and IP Rating, Billing and Settlement solutions today announced that Cisco Systems, Inc., has made an equity investment in the company. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The two companies plan to jointly develop, market and sell new bundled offerings to Cisco's service provider and enterprise customer base. Joint management teams have been created to develop product integration plans, product requirements and standard definitions. The companies have already completed the first phase of integrating Apogee Networks' NetCountant® Billing platform with Cisco's content networking platform, enabling service providers and enterprises to build global networks optimized for e-commerce and Web content delivery.
Pablo Tapia, Founder and CEO of Apogee Networks, said "This investment represents a milestone for Apogee Networks. Our capabilities to define, measure and bill for content at unprecedented scale will provide our joint customers with enhanced billing and settlement solutions and enable the rapid deployment of new content based services."
Paul Hughes, Director of Billing Payment Applications Strategies research, at the Yankee Group added, "This is a significant industry development. Increasingly, it is becoming apparent that the future success of the Internet lies with the introduction of new business models that recognize content is the asset of the Internet. The product integration between Cisco and Apogee Networks is a welcomed, major advancement in providing the industry with critical new service capabilities," added Hughes.
"As profitability and long term revenue growth emerge as factors in the development of the Internet, the ability to introduce premium content services is becoming critical," commented Gartner Senior Analyst, Norbert Scholz. "The Internet imposes significant challenges, however, in the area of content collection and billing. Scalability and the flexibility to react to changing market demands will be critical factors to success. Thus, the integration between network and billing suppliers will allow the industry to realize more rapid solutions and quicker profitability.
With this investment, Cisco joins Apogee Networks' current shareholders, who include: Fidelity Ventures, Granite Ventures, Oak Partner Investments, Intel, CTC (Japan), Net One (Japan) and BBVA (Spain). Apogee Networks is also a member of the Cisco New World Ecosystem Partner Program. Cisco and Apogee Networks are members of the Content Alliance, an open industry organization established to accelerate the deployment and acceptance of content delivery networks through proposals for open standards that enable the content services networks of multiple providers to work in cooperation.
About Apogee Networks
Headquartered in Saddle Brook, New Jersey, Apogee Networks, Inc. is the recognized leader in developing and deploying advanced Content, and IP Rating, Billing and Settlement solutions for IP Content Distributors, ASPs, ISPs, Carriers, Wireless Internet Providers and Enterprise customers. Apogee Networks' NetCountant® product line provides full end-to-end content, revenue settlement and IP billing capabilities. Uniquely, NetCountant Billing provides real-time billing, flexible service creation and high scalability to meet the challenges of rapid customer growth. Apogee Networks' NetCountant Content Collection and NetCountant Settlement platforms provide advanced IP Content aggregation, processing, and revenue settlement capabilities for Content Distributors. NetCountant Accountability provides Global 2000 Enterprise and IP Network customers with the capability to better manage and allocate IP usage thereby realizing significant bandwidth cost savings. The company's products were recently awarded Internet Telephony® magazine's Product of the Year Award and Networld+Interop's Best-of-Show Award. Apogee Networks is a Charter member of the Internet Protocol Detail Record (IPDR) Association.
Apogee Networks investors include Cisco Systems, Fidelity Ventures Limited, Granite Ventures, Oak Investment Partners, INTEL, BBVA, Net One Systems Co., Ltd., CTC, and several private investors. For additional information about Apogee Networks, please call 1-888-APOGEE3 (276-4333), 1-201-368-8800,or email info@apogeenetworks.com or visit us at http://www.apogeenetworks.com.
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