New Guide From Telecommunications Reports Identifies 200 Red Hot Communications Start-ups

Whether in E-commerce, Security, Internet or Telephony,
These Companies Are Redefining the Communications Industry

(Washington, D.C., November 1, 1999) – Hundreds of innovative communications start-ups have emerged in the wake of telecommunications deregulation and e-commerce growth and they’re ready to make their mark on customers, investors and the industry. Finding reliable, concise and timely information about these new companies, however, is difficult, according to Telecommunications Reports International, Inc. (TRI), the industry’s leading telecommunications publisher and a unit of CCH INCORPORATED. To help investors and those within the telecommunications industry looking to partner with or acquire new ventures, TRI has introduced 200 Red Hot Communications Start-Ups, a one-of-a-kind online service and guide profiling leading-edge companies that are shaping telecommunications and related industries as well as the Internet.

Available in both print and online versions, this valuable guide provides a detailed snapshot of company management, key products, investors, target markets and competitors. In addition, 200 Red Hot Communications Start-Ups online, which is updated regularly, provides links to the 200 companies’ web sites and is fully searchable for easy and fast analysis.

"Many of these companies are below the radar screen of the industry and the analysts who follow this highly complex area," said Victoria Mason, editor in chief at TRI, whose flagship Telecommunications Reports is the journal of record for the telecommunications industry. "An up-close look at these small companies now can make a significant difference on whether investors, competitors and partners will be positioned to take advantage of emerging business opportunities or scrambling to catch up later."

Hot Communications Companies Likely to Shake Up Industry, Customers, Wall Street

200 Red Hot Communications Start-Ups casts an experienced eye across the diverse communications industry, covering emerging telecom service providers, Internet service providers (ISPs), equipment manufacturers, software developers, Internet portals and search engines and systems integrators. While the companies aren’t household names – yet – they are worth watching. Here’s an up-close snapshot of some of the most influential leading edge companies around today – the ones that may have a major role shaping the future of communications and the Internet.

Cyveillance, Alexandria, Va., (www.cyveillance.com) is a small company that promises its software can do something even the largest corporations find daunting – patrol and police the Internet. The "e-business intelligence" start-up pledges to protect companies from exploitation, piracy, plagiarism and defamation on the Web.
NightFire Software, Inc., Berkeley, Calif., (www.nightfire.com) has placed itself in the middle of the competition between the incumbent local phone companies and competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs), promising to simplify difficult and complex back-office procedures for both sides. This start-up’s software package, SupplierExpress, automates the service order process between CLECs and incumbents.
Qpass, Inc., Seattle, Wash., (www.qpass.com) has a founder and CEO, Chase Franklin, who was one of the chief architects of Microsoft’s e-commerce strategy. His new company is adding to the e-commerce infrastructure and addressing a crucial need: The Qpass Content Transaction Network is designed to make it practical and profitable for companies to charge for content on the Internet. With Qpass software, customers can purchase information on a piecemeal or per-use basis. Qpass also produces a "digital wallet" – a single, secure, "virtual" wallet that can be used to conduct automatic transactions anywhere on the Web.

Sonus Networks, Inc., Westford, Mass., (www.sonusnet.com) offers carriers a suite of packet telephony products designed to help them to roll out voice services cheaply and quickly. Sonus, together with Lucent Technologies, is providing the switching technology for Frontier Communications' planned all-IP network, a major contract that puts Sonus ahead of its competitors in this crowded market, for the moment at least. Sonus is funded by a number of VC firms, including Bedrock Ventures, Charles River Ventures and North Bridge Venture Partners.

RocketTalk, Inc., Fullerton, Calif., (www.rockettalk.com) has founders who think something important has been missing on the Internet – the human voice. They hope that their free software, which allows users to send voice messages as e-mail attachments, will appeal to existing e-mail users, while expanding the market to attract the unwired masses who find e-mail too impersonal or who simply hate to type.
Telezoo.com Corporation, Washington, D.C., (www.telezoo.com) runs an e-commerce web site for telecommunications products and services. The site is aimed squarely at an expert audience of telecommunications engineers and professionals, so the emphasis is on ease of use and depth of detail. The system allows users looking for entire network solutions to submit requests for proposals to vendors. Major companies such as Lucent Technologies, Newbridge, and Ascend have embraced telezoo.com’s system.

Triton Network Systems, Orlando, Fla., (www.triton-network.com) has been developing an architecture that it hopes will make millimeter-wave radio a cheaper, more powerful and more reliable alternative to cable television and DSL (digital subscriber line) technologies for high-speed data services. The start-up bills this technology as "Invisible Fiber." The company has raised $40 million from VC firms such as Oak Investment Partners, Worldview Technology Partners, Bessemer Ventures and Adams Capital. Triton provides products for wireless Internet service provider Advanced Radio Telecom Corp., which also is partly funded by Oak and Worldview.

XACCT Technologies, Inc., Santa Clara, Calif., (www.xacct.com) is betting on a change in the way ISPs do business. The company’s product, XACCTusage, captures and parses data from the Internet Protocol (IP) network to produce detailed usage records. With these records, ISPs can bill for specific services instead of charging a flat rate to all customers while trying to roll out premium services for high-end users. XACCT has several competitors in this promising space, but it seems to be establishing a strong lead over its rivals through an aggressive campaign of strategic partnerships with billing and customer-care software vendors such as Certis, Intasys, Kenan and Cable Data.

Availability and Pricing

For more information or to order 200 Red Hot Communications Start-Ups, call 800-822-6388. The online version of 200 Red Hot Communications Start-Ups is available for $795 per year (single user). The 414-page, softcover book is available for $495. Subscription to both the print and database version is available for $1,159 per year. Site licenses are available.

About TRI

Telecommunications Reports International, Inc., Washington, D.C., is the oldest and most respected provider of telecommunications industry information and services. Since 1934, executives and policy-makers have relied on TRI’s comprehensive coverage and analysis of major industry issues and events in the multi-billion-dollar communications business. TRI is part of the Business and Finance Group at CCH INCORPORATED, a leading provider of tax and business law information and software. CCH has served over four generations of business professionals and their clients, covering a wide range of legal and compliance topics including securities, insurance, banking, telecommunications, trade regulations and government contracting. The TRI web site can be accessed at www.tr.com.

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Disclosure: TRI, CCH, Wolters Kluwer and their subsidiaries are neither investors nor partners with the selected companies identified in this announcement. All company and product names are trademarks of their respective organizations.

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EDITORS NOTE: For access to the 200 Red Hot Communications Start-Ups database, contact Leslie Bonacum at 847-267-7153 or bonacuml@cch.com.