March 26, 2007

Following the commissioning of a successful transoceanic submarine cable upgrade, Azea has secured a Series D funding round of more than $20million led by TVM Capital and supported by its existing investors.

Mike Hynes, Chief Operating Officer of Azea, comments: “The successful completion of our latest project once again validates the compelling business case for upgrades whereby carriers can optimise their existing assets and offer new services.”

Azea is already backed by top tire venture capital investors from both the US and the UK, including Accel Partners, Atlas Venture and Quester.  New investor TVM Capital of Munich, Germany and Boston, US has led this additional funding round to provide working capital for further technical and business development and to take the company to profitability.

“We have been impressed by Azea’s experienced team and their innovative approach to solving the global telecommunications operators’ dilemma of achieving profitable growth” says Chris Cobbold of TVM Capital, who has joined Azea’s board of directors.

Scott White, Chief Executive Officer of Azea observes: “This funding round reflects the continued confidence of our existing investors, and validation from new investor TVM Capital of the submarine optical upgrade marketing opportunity and Azea’s potential for growth.”

About Xtera Communications

Xtera Communications specializes in network infrastructure that delivers the highest capacity, reach and density. Our long-haul, Submarine, Metro and WAN technologies together with our deployment expertise drive customer success and long term value.

Xtera offers an extensive portfolio of Optical Transport solutions for long-haul, regional, metropolitan and sub-sea networks, and WAN Traffic Management solutions for both enterprise and telecom companies.  

With deployments in four continents, Xtera’s Optical Transport portfolio helps service providers worldwide reach new markets via new deployments, and extends the life of their existing network assets with cost-effective upgrades. Xtera's innovative Traffic Management solutions offer customers the best price/performance in network optimization.

Xtera delivers compelling advantage to its customers by maximizing network capacity, reach and value.

For more information, please visit www.xtera.com