03/15/2002

CeBIT 2002: QSC presents innovative business solutions in Hall 16, Stand A06

Hanover, Cologne, 15 March 2002 - Cologne-based QSC AG, Germany´s professional DSL provider, is extending its product portfolio for business customers. At the CeBIT fair in Hanover, QSC is presenting innovative value-added services to complement the Q-DSL business customer products "Q-DSL business" and "Q-DSL office". These services include Q-VPN products, Q-Security solutions and the professional voice-over-DSL product, QSC-Voice. The product innovations are targeted at the real needs of small and larger companies, combining high performance and ease of operation with fair pricing and good service.

Q-VPN sets new benchmarks for corporate networking
QSC unveiled Q-VPN, a Virtual Private Network product and a technological highlight for corporate clients. Q-VPN enables companies to network their suppliers, branch offices, departments or teleworking employees securely and quickly in a "proprietary" network. Until now, companies had to pay for expensive leased lines to build their own communication networks. Another constraining factor was that it was difficult to change the technical parameters of such leased lines, like for example bandwidth or the integration of new sites. Q-VPN, in contrast, is extremely flexible. Adjustments to suit a customer´s changing requirements can be made with relative ease at any time.

In addition to this high level of flexibility, the QSC Virtual Private Network generates cost savings compared to conventional VPNs. For example, the QSC "Network Operation Center" rapidly implements modifications requested by customers, without a technician having to call on the customer and those connected to its network. The installation effort involved is minimal. Q-DSL business customers receive the VPN they want within a mere week.

Q-Security at a mouse click
Anyone using Q-DSL business, Q-DSL office (a special offer for small enterprises and home offices) or Q-VPN can select via QSC's homepage the security profile best matching their needs and activate that profile by mouse click. The QSC Network Operation Center guarantees the required security level 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. A monthly fee is charged by QSC for this customized firewall.

QSC-Voice enables voice-over-DSL for small companies
From July 2002, QSC business customers in six cities (Hamburg, Berlin, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt/Main, Munich) can make phone calls over their DSL line - in addition to exchanging data and surfing the Internet. The benefit: reduced communication costs. QSC has designed a degressive price model based on the number of lines available. The more lines the customer orders, the lower the charge per line. Another benefit: the customer can continue to use existing terminal equipment such as telephones and fax machines. From October 2002 onwards, the QSC-Voice service will be available in every city covered by the QSC network.

"Fair Price Tariff" ensures transparent cost control
Business customers, in particular, will profit from the low entry-level charges and the traffic-dependent "surcharge" featured in the new "Fair Price Tariff". On the one hand, they have the full cost control inherent in a flatrate charge - customers pay a fixed basic amount that includes 1000 megabytes of free transmission volume. On the other hand, costs for any additional volume are very transparent - if the flatrate allowance is exceeded, QSC charges only for the actual data volume used, at a price of 2.9 cents per megabyte. Once a fixed price ceiling is reached, any additional volume is free of charge. This means optimal price transparency and a high level of planning security for customers.

Besides these innovations, QSC is exhibiting additional broadband applications, such as a new videoconferencing solution and video mails, is presenting itself as an Application Service Provider for content providers, and showing special applications on the stands of its various partners: Alphanetcom, Compushack/Sun, Elsa, Hermstedt, my-extra, Netgear, Netline Sony and Vobis.

QSC AG (QSC) is Germany´s professional DSL provider, supplying business and residential customers with broadband leased line connections over ordinary telephone lines, as well as innovative services of the highest quality. The company´s broadband network infrastructure now covers more than 40 of the largest cities in Germany, thus reaching more than 20 million potential users. QSC currently employs a workforce of 280.

Contact:
QSC AG
Claudia Zimmermann
Mathias Brüggen Str. 55
D-50829 Köln
Tel.: +49 (0)221/6698-235
Fax: +49 (0)221/6698-289
E-mail: presse@qsc.de