Newport Networks Selected by Kingston Communications

Chepstow, UK, 24th November, 2005. Newport Networks, the developer of carrier-class Session Border Controllers, has been selected by Kingston Communications to deliver access and interconnect session control for its next generation network. The order was awarded via Marconi Corporation which resells Newport's 1460 session border controller as part of its Impact NGN portfolio.

Kingston Communications is a leading provider of communications solutions, providing a wide range of voice, data, internet and contact centre services to businesses and public sector organisations throughout the UK.

It also offers telecommunication and internet services in the East Yorkshire area and has a proud record of innovation and best practice. It was the first operator to have a fully digital network in the UK and the first mainland operator to accept a fully configured Marconi SoftSwitch into its network in June 2004. Eclipse Internet, which is owned by Kingston, was named Best Sumo Business Broadband Provider and best carrier at the Internet Service Provider Association in February 2005.

The Newport Network's 1460 session controller is the industry's most future proof session control solution offering unmatched scalability, performance and investment protection. The Newport 1460 can be deployed in an extremely flexible manner separating both signalling and media alongside a simple migration path to important future standards such as IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem). Kingston will deploy the Newport 1460 to provide IP multimedia interconnect and access services to its customers during 2006.

"Kingston was looking for a future proof session border control solution to secure and control its VoIP access and interconnect borders," commented Neil Gower of Kingston Communications. "The Newport 1460 has the scalability and performance we anticipate needing and has proven interworking with the Marconi SoftSwitch we already have deployed" he added.

"Newport has been making excellent progress in the UK alternative operator market," commented John Everard, Chief Executive Officer of Newport Networks. "The 1460 is becoming the product of choice for service providers to interconnect their NGN networks together as the UK market becomes ever more IP-centric," he added.

The Newport 1460 will be deployed on the Kingston Communications network in the first half of 2006.

About Newport Networks

Newport Networks Group PLC, listed on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange in May 2004, has designed and developed the 1460 Session Border Controller to solve existing commercial and technical problems in the provision of Voice over IP (VoIP) and Multimedia over IP (MoIP) services. The 1460 Session Border Controller addresses the key service delivery issues of quality and security, enabling service providers to create new revenue streams from VoIP and MoIP while controlling the cost of delivery. Based in the UK and North America, Newport Networks has an experienced team headed by Chairman Terry Matthews and CEO John Everard. The team has a proven track record of identifying new service provider network technologies, developing products and managing the growth of international businesses. Further information at www.newport-networks.com

About Kingston Communications

Kingston Communications is a leading provider of communications solutions, providing a wide range of voice, data, internet and contact centre services to businesses and public sector organisations throughout the UK.

Kingston is a converged communications company with expertise and experience in both telecommunications and enterprise networking, supported by its own 2200km broadband network. As such, it is ideally positioned to meet the infrastructure, equipment and connectivity requirements of modern organisations, for whom communications is a strategic consideration.

Kingston's national capabilities have been built on its strong foundations within East Yorkshire, where the company has been providing leading edge services to residential and business customers for over 100 years and where it has been a pioneer in the use of ADSL technology.

In December 2004 Kingston acquired 100% of the shares of Omnetica Holdings Ltd, specialists in the provision of converged IP networks.

The Kingston Group also includes Eclipse Internet, an established and growing broadband ISP that delivers internet connectivity and services to businesses and consumers throughout the UK.

About Marconi Corporation

Marconi Corporation plc is a global telecommunications equipment, services and solutions company. The company's core business is the provision of innovative and reliable optical networks, broadband routing and switching, broadband access technologies and services. The company's customer base includes many of the world's largest telecommunications operators.

The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol MONI and on NASDAQ under the ticker MRCIY.

For the Company: Dave Gladwin +44 (0) 1291 435 700 (HQ) +44 (0) 7880 717 459 (Cell)