Press Release

Narus Addresses the Recent FCC VoIP Ruling

August 6, 2004, Mountain View CA — The FCC’s announcement earlier this week about how it intends to move forward with rules that enable the same type of law enforcement surveillance for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) as those currently used for mobile and landlines, has brought the telecommunications sector once again to the foreground of public interest. With its sights firmly set on the latest hot communication technology, Wednesday’s FCC vote has some worried that fast-growing VoIP services could be harmed by excessive regulation. And, with an estimated 17% of North American phone lines anticipated to be replaced by 2008 (Gartner Inc.) and the Internet calling market forecast to increase to $776.9 million by the end of next year (In-Stat/MDR), this concern is understandable.

However, while the exact rules for VoIP monitoring and lawful intercept are still to be determined, based on feedback from the Department of Justice and the FBI, this week’s news is unlikely to come as a big surprise to many telecommunication carriers.

The reality is that these capabilities actually exist today and the core technology needed is already embedded within the networks of most communications providers. For example Narus, who provides a carrier-class IP platform and various IP applications for the largest, most profitable networks in the world, has been offering this specific VoIP capability since 2001. Since that time Narus has worked with many world leading telecom carriers, including AT&T, T-Mobile, KDDI, KT and Telecom Egypt, to implement processes that enable the lawful capture of VoIP.

Based on Narus’ experience and in-depth subject matter knowledge, the company has also been actively working with the FBI to help them understand and address the lawful application of intercept with the many forms of Internet-based digital (packet-mode) communications – such as VoIP.

From Narus’ perspective, there are several reasons why this week’s FCC announcement should be embraced rather than viewed with skepticism, including:

A clear need for LEA’s to be able to capture digital communications such as VoIP, email and instant messaging (IM) in much the same way as they do for landlines and mobile. Surveillance measures will help to identify and prevent fraud, misuse and other criminal activity.
There is nearly no additional cost or application impact, as proven by the deployment of Narus’ own IP Platforms in global carrier networks. In fact these systems are capable of supporting multiple services that provide a real return on investment from billing for data services, analysis of network efficiencies and performance, and early warning of security events such as worms, DDoS and hacking.
IP monitoring is easily enabled.

About Narus, Inc.

Narus is the leader in real-time traffic intelligence for large IP networks, and is the only company that provides security, intercept and traffic management solutions within a single, flexible system. With Narus, service providers, governments and large enterprises around the world can immediately detect, analyze, mitigate and target any unwanted, unwarranted or malicious traffic. Narus provides its customers with complete, real-time insight into all of their IP traffic from the network to the applications. Combined with the ability to enable numerous actions, Narus customers have the ability to take the most appropriate actions quickly.

Narus’ system protects and manages the largest IP networks around the world including AT&T, KT (Korea), KDDI (Japan), Telecom Egypt, Reliance (India), Saudi Telecom, US Cellular and Pakistan Telecom Authority. Narus is headquartered in Mountain View, California with regional offices around the world. For more information, please visit www.narus.com.

Media Contact

Kathleen Shanahan
Boca Communications
T: 415.570.1405