Findings From Global Telecom Trends Study Indicate IP- Based Services, Integration of Voice, Video & Data Are Primary Areas for Future Growth

GENEVA (PROTEXT) - Industry leaders from NetWorld+Interop andIntertec Publishing Corp. announced the key global findings ofthe 1999 Telecommunications Market Trends Study at an exclusiveindustry briefing yesterday during TELECOM '99, which is beingheld this week in Geneva, Switzerland. NetWorld+Interop joined forces with Telephony, GlobalTelephony, Cable World and Wireless Review -- all part ofIntertec's Communications Division -- to provide a trulycomprehensive, worldwide analysis of the communications marketnow and in the future. Conducted by The Adams Company, a third-party research firm,this study is believed to be the most comprehensive survey in theworld focusing on the telecommunications market. The aim of thestudy was to identify the key challenges and opportunitiesdriving this vast, dynamic industry, and to give serviceproviders and their vendor-partners a better understanding of theservices and business models evolving in the face of newtechnologies and business demands from their customers. The studyqueried service providers across the globe in North America,Asia/Pacific, Europe and Latin America; in three targeted marketsegments: incumbent carriers which included PTTs/ILECs and IXCs;wireless carriers, and new carriers which included CLECs, ISPsand Cable. "This study will be an extremely useful tool both for serviceproviders competing in an intense marketplace and for vendorsinterested in gaining market share now and in the future," saidAndrew Insinga, publisher of Global Telephony. "Results of the1999 Telecom Market Trends Study paint a detailed picture ofopportunities, challenges and trends for key players in all areasof communications." "Change in this industry is constant. What is consideredinnovative today can be replaced by an even more revolutionary,cutting-edge technology tomorrow," added Valerie Williamson, vicepresident and general manager, NetWorld+Interop. "This studyhelps the industry's ambitious new leaders navigate thecompetitive landscape and understand what must be done tosucceed." Some major findings of the study include the following: -- Positive market influences are technology and e-commerce

focused, while negative influences are regulatory andpersonnel

focused. -- IP-based services are strong and growing, especiallywireless

services. -- A rising data tide is lifting all service providers in all

regions. -- Service providers are beginning to outsource key networking

technologies and business functions. -- In vendor rating and purchase plans, Cisco dominates, butmany

other vendors are ranked highly especially when looked at

across different international regions. The top issues that all service providers expect to have majorpositive impact on their businesses over the next two years were: -- Integration of voice, video and data -- Demand for high-speed access Top issues with a negative impact across all service providerswere: -- The slow pace of government deregulation -- Availability of qualified personnel However, there are some regional variations in these issues.The top positive issue driving the North American market isdemand for high-speed access while the rest of the regions arebeing driven by integration of voice, video and data. The secondmost important negative issue showed differences across theregions. For North America it is the availability of qualifiedpersonnel, while for Europe and Asia/Pacific it is the lowerprofit margins on connection services and for Latin America it isthe entry of new competitors/service providers. In terms of major shifts in services offered over the next twoyears, IP and wireless are the big news. In examining the mix ofvoice, data and video traffic over the next two years, serviceproviders around the globe are seeing data and video trafficgrowing to be a larger share of their market than voice. Withregard to global service provider segments, this patterncontinues for incumbent carriers and new carriers while wirelesscarriers are still more voice-centric. Strong areas of growth fortypes of connections include DSL (12% to 31%), andbroadband/fixed wireless (14% to 27%). Product performance is by far the most important considerationwhen service providers choose vendors The ability to providesupport to end-customers and technological leadership were otherimportant considerations. Cisco ranked first globally in theareas of delivery and support, technology leadership and globalleadership; while Lucent ranked second for all ratings except inthe category of delivery and support. However, when theserankings are analyzed across the different regions, a variety ofother vendors shared the top ten rankings including Nokia,Ericsson, Alcatel, Siemens, Nortel, NEC and Hewlett-Packard. When looking at their likeliness to outsource by serviceprovider and by region, findings show that incumbent carriers inEurope and Asia/Pacific were more likely to outsource, whileamong wireless carriers, European wireless service providers weremore likely to outsource and among new carriers, those inAsia/Pacific were more likely to outsource. The top-line U.S. results of this study were announced at anindustry briefing at NetWorld+Interop 99 Atlanta in September.Complete U.S. and International results including vendor specificreports will be available by the beginning of November. About the Intertec Communications Division ... Telephony, Wireless Review, Cable World and Global Telephonyare four of the eight magazines that make up the IntertecCommunications Division. They are the leading sources for focusedexpertise and ahead-of-the-curve coverage of key technology,business and news issues for global communications providers, inall areas of the market. With a combined circulation of over115,000 (BPA International, Paragraph 3a, June 1999 statements),these publications deliver powerful reach to wireline, wireless,new and incumbent providers in all levels of management. About NetWorld+Interop ... NetWorld+Interop provides networking, Internet andtelecommunications professional buyers with a uniquelycomprehensive forum for education and evaluation of products andservices in order to make critical purchase decisions.NetWorld+Interop affords buyers from enterprises, carrier/serviceproviders, and resellers/integrators the opportunity toexperience live technology demonstrations first-hand. It's thisfocus on advanced, multivendor, multi-protocol, multi-serviceinteroperability technologies and solutions that makesNetWorld+Interop the definitive networking event.NetWorld+Interop is produced by ZD Events, the events group ofZiff-Davis. For more information about NetWorld+Interop 99Atlanta, visit www.interop.com. About Ziff-Davis ... Ziff-Davis Inc. is a leading media and marketing companyfocused on computing and Internet-related technologies, withprincipal platforms in print publishing, trade shows andconferences, online content, television and education. Ziff-Davisprovides global technology companies with marketing strategiesfor reaching key decision-makers. Ziff-Davis has two series ofcommon stock, one which is intended to track the performance ofits Internet business ZDNet (NYSE: ZDZ), and one which isintended to track the performance of the ZD Group (NYSE: ZD),which includes print publishing, trade shows and conferences,education, online learning, product testing and televisionbusinesses, and an 83% retained interest in ZDNet. NOTE: ZD EVENTS, the ZD EVENTS logo, the ZD logo,NetWorld+Interop, and the InteropNet are trademarks owned or usedunder license by ZD Events Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary ofZiff-Davis Inc., and may be registered in the United States andother countries. NetWorld is the registered service mark ofNovell, Inc. Other product and company names mentioned may betrademarks of their respective owners. This release may contain forward-looking statements that aresubject to risks and uncertainties. Although Ziff-Davis Inc.believes that the expectations reflected in its forward-lookingstatements are reasonable, actual results could differ materiallyfrom those expectations. Important cautionary statements and riskfactors that would affect actual results are discussed inmaterials filed by Ziff-Davis Inc. with the Securities andExchange Commission, including under the caption "Risk Factors"in the Registration Statement on Form S-1 which became effectiveMarch 30, 1999, and the Form S-3 which became effective August11, 1999. Holders of ZD Group Stock and ZDNet Stock are commonstockholders of Ziff-Davis Inc. and are subject to the risksassociated with an investment in Ziff-Davis Inc. and all of itsbusinesses, assets and liabilities. ots Original Text Service:ZD Events Inc. Internet: http://www.newsaktuell.de Contact: SueLonergan, or Jennifer McClure, jennifer_mcclure@zd.com, both ofZD Events, 650-578-6996 Company News On-Call:http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/132672.html or fax, 800-758-5804,ext. 132672

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