Released on: October 12, 2007, 11:48 am

Press Release Author: LightEdge Solutions

Industry: Telecommunications

Press Release Summary: Telephony magazine recognizes LightEdge Solutions with
Innovative Technology Deployment award

Press Release Body: DES MOINES, Iowa, October 11, 2007—Telephony magazine, a Penton
Media publication, has awarded LightEdge Solutions®, Inc. the 2007 Telephony
Innovation Award for Innovative Technology Deployment based on its utilization of
Actelis Networks’ EFMplus™ Ethernet over copper technology. LightEdge Solutions, one
of the Midwest’s leading providers of enterprise-grade, managed voice, data and IT
services for small and medium sized businesses, has deployed this solution for
customers with ongoing scalability needs.

The Telephony Innovation Awards—given for the first time at Telephony LIVE: The 2007
Telecom Summit in Dallas—recognizes service providers who have developed unique or
first-to-market offerings that utilize technology or address customers’ needs in a
new way. Focused on five key categories, the innovations recognized come in many
forms: design, delivery, pricing, bundling, packaging or customer service and
address various market segments, including consumers, corporate enterprises and
SMBs. Award recipients were recognized at a special presentation held during
Telephony LIVE on October 10.

“We established these awards to recognize innovation in the industry at a time when
all service providers are trying to differentiate themselves in a highly competitive
market,” said Telephony Publisher Mark Hickey. “The award winners are companies who
chose not to just follow the technology curve, but to bring their customers services
that meet their needs in distinctive ways.”

LightEdge Solutions deployed Actelis’ ML600 Ethernet Access Devices (EADs) and ML100
and ML1300 transport and aggregation switches to better serve the growing bandwidth
needs of its SMB customers. By utilizing Actelis’ products—built with EFMplus
technology—as a cost-effective alternative to slower T-1 lines, business customers
can connect quickly to the LightEdge IP network via symmetrical Ethernet access
connections for high-speed Internet access, Voice-over-IP (VoIP), remote managed
back-up and security services, as well as retrieve applications and data on servers
within LightEdge’s data center.
“With traditional T-1 lines delivering only 1.5 Mbps, we would have to either add
line cards to the router or change routers completely to upgrade the bandwidth
service of a customer,” said Kris Harris, vice president of operations at LightEdge
Solutions. “The Actelis carrier Ethernet solution is efficient because we can
leverage the same equipment for all service levels. This provides our business
customers the ability to quickly upgrade their bandwidth as much as tenfold without
the need for additional equipment or the time necessary to process changes. When
customers need more than a bonded 2xT-1 line or have foreseeable scalability needs,
the Actelis option makes a lot of sense.”

“Carrier Ethernet over copper technology has become a popular way for service
providers to extend the reach of their networks to offer more bandwidth more easily
and cost effectively,” said Telephony Editor-in-Chief Carol Wilson. “LightEdge has
gone beyond the standard offering, however, with managed services that deliver data
networking, IT hosting/management and hosted VoIP services that scale on demand,
taking full advantage of what the Actelis technology can deliver. This makes the
service very appealing to small to mid-sized businesses that want sophisticated
service offerings without the capital expense or need for an IT staff.”

Telephony received more than 80 nominations for its Telephony Innovation Awards. The
process was handled by the mBLAST customer relationship management system. Judging
was done by members of the Telephony editorial staff and guest judges Teresa
Mastrangelo of Broadbandtrends.com and Cindy Whelan of Current Analysis.

“It is an honor to be recognized as an innovator by Telephony magazine,” said Jim
Masterson, chairman and chief executive officer of LightEdge Solutions. “For
LightEdge, it’s simply about providing technology that is valuable and impactful for
our customers. With its incredible scalability, Ethernet over copper has been a real
winner for our customers needing high-bandwidth service at a lower cost than banded
T1s.



Web Site: http://www.lightedge.com

Contact Details: 666 Walnut Street, Suite 1900
Des Moines, IA 50309
Phone 515-471-1000
Fax 515-471-1112
info@lightedge.com