- ARIA SOHO Uses Latest Digital Technologies to Deliver Cost-Effective Communications

SEOUL – LG-Nortel, the LG Electronics and Nortel* [NYSE/TSX: NT] joint venture, is launching its first new product range – a smart communications system to help small and medium businesses (SMBs) boost employee productivity, streamline business operations, reduce costs and enhance customer service.

The ARIA SOHO digital hybrid PBX is the first product fully developed and built by LG-Nortel since the joint venture was established in late 2005. Designed specifically for the SMB and home office markets, and fully hybrid to support both analog and digital communications, the ARIA SOHO will initially be available from September 2006 in Asia Pacific, Turkey, North Africa and Russia.

“LG-Nortel will focus on growing SMB market share through ongoing development of new products and marketing activities,” said J.R. Lee, chief executive officer, LG-Nortel. “We are confident our continued efforts will establish LG-Nortel as a leading communications provider for SMB customers in many markets around the world.”

The ARIA SOHO is a powerful addition to LG-Nortel’s existing SMB product portfolio. For the past six years, the company’s popular ipLDK digital PBX range – under its earlier LG Electronics branding – has provided more than 1.5 million ports per year to enterprise customers in approximately 50 countries.

The ARIA SOHO offers simplicity and ease of use – in regard to installation, operation and maintenance – and this is expected to be of particular appeal to SMB and home office users. Enabled by its fully hybrid architecture, an easy-to-use ‘plug and play’ facility provides maximum flexibility in selecting types of terminals, whether the user is dealing with single-line analog handsets, digital telephones or faxes.

Since the ARIA SOHO has been developed using the latest digital technology, it offers essential business services such as Caller ID, SMS and voice/fax tone detection at no extra cost. Sophisticated options traditionally provided only by large PBX systems – such as in-built voice mail, auto attendant, conferencing capability, and LAN interface for Ethernet connectivity – are also available. In addition, the ARIA SOHO includes call cost control/monitoring capabilities to keep communications costs low, and is easily and affordably scalable to 48 extensions.