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Occam Networks Enables Three Local Carriers to Deliver Triple Play Services to Southwestern Wisconsin

Hillsboro Telephone, LaValle Telephone and Richland-Grant Telephone Deploy BLC 6000 to Deliver Voice, High-Speed Data and Video Services

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – March 23, 2004 Occam Networks Inc. (OTCBB: OCCM) , a supplier of innovative Ethernet and IP-based loop carrier equipment to telecommunications companies worldwide, today announced that three members of the Midwest Tel Net consortium, Hillsboro Telephone Company Inc., LaValle Telephone Cooperative and Richland-Grant Telephone Cooperative, have selected its BLC 6000 platform to deliver voice, video and high-speed data to the companies' rural residential and small business subscribers.

Hillsboro Telephone Company was the first local carrier in Wisconsin to select and deploy the BLC 6000 platform, a complete loop carrier system using Ethernet and Internet Protocol (IP) as core transport and service protocols. Today, Hillsboro has five different types of loop carriers in their network. Over the next year and a half the carrier will replace these with the BLC 6000, installing multiple platforms at each site. To date, Hillsboro has installed the BLC in central office (CO) and remote office locations and is delivering voice, data and video to its subscribers.

“Our goal in moving to a single platform was for every line to be a high-speed line that could deliver data and video, as well as voice,” said Don Hammer, plant supervisor for Hillsboro. “We considered products from several different vendors, but the Occam BLC was the only platform that truly provided us with the ability to deliver triple play services. Its seamless transport mechanism with its Gigabit Ethernet bonding also provides us with an upgrade path as demand for new services grows.

“The independent carriers continue to be very aggressive about delivering triple play services,” said Russ Sharer, vice president of marketing and business development for Occam Networks. “As the only IP based broadband loop carrier, Occam can better help them deliver these services.”

LaValle Telephone Cooperative plans to provide 100 percent of its subscribers with advanced broadband services by the end of 2005. The carrier will provide traditional voice service, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) service and video, as well as position itself to deliver voice over IP (VoIP). Over the next 18 months, LaValle will install the BLC 6000 in two CO exchanges and 10 remote sites. In mid-April it will begin delivering triple play services.

Richland-Grant Telephone Cooperative selected the BLC 6000 over other products because its Ethernet core transport and IP service protocols made it easy to provision and service. The cooperative plans to install the BLC 6000 in five COs and 23 remotes, using the central office BLCs as DSLAMs to feed the remotes. It expects to install the BLCs in 14 remotes this year and to complete the project by the end of 2005. With the completion, Richland-Grant will provide 100 percent of its 3,000 subscribers with advanced broadband services.

“I strongly believe that Ethernet and IP are the future of telecommunications,” said Dave Lull, general manager for LaValle and Richland-Grant. “These technologies make the BLC 6000 much easier to install, configure and manage than other loop carrier solutions. They provide us with a greater flexibility that saves us time, and every minute we save has a dollar value.”

Occam Ethernet Protection Switching (EPS) was of key importance to Richland-Grant in the selection process. The cooperative maintains a reputation for delivering high-quality service with ‘five nines' reliability. With plans to add more fiber to their network, Richland-Grant will put all their remotes on a protected network. EPS enables them to monitor the remotes and automatically transfer traffic from primary to alternate facilities.

“Before purchasing the BLC 6000 we conducted a test trial with 18 customers, delivering DSL, video and some voice,” Lull continued. “The quality of service was ‘as promised' – customers could tell no difference in the video quality than their previous cable systems.”

About Hillsboro Telephone Company Inc.
Formed in 1946, Hillsboro Telephone Company Inc. serves approximately 114 square miles encompassing the Hillsboro area, with local phone service to a predominantly rural agricultural subscriber base. Verneau Networks, Inc., a subsidiary of Hillsboro Telephone Company, offers subscribers new Digital IP Technology, providing long distance service, high-speed DSL Internet access and all new Digital IP Television to its subscribers via their existing telephone lines.

About LaValle Telephone Cooperative
Founded in 1956, LaValle Telephone Cooperative provides local phone service, long distance, high speed Internet, and web hosting. Located in LaValle, Wisconsin, the cooperative serves an area of 125 square miles, including the towns of LaValle and Cazenovia. LaValle is a member of Midwest Tel Net, a consortium of eight southwest Wisconsin telephone companies that provides local Internet access throughout much of southwest Wisconsin.

About Richland-Grant Telephone Cooperative
Located in Blue River, Wisconsin, Richland-Grant Telephone Cooperative offers phone service in Blue River, Boaz, Sabin, Soldiers Grove and Gays Mills. Richland-Grant is a member of Midwest Tel Net, a consortium of eight southwest Wisconsin telephone companies that provides local Internet access throughout much of southwest Wisconsin. Midwest Tel Net was one of the first companies in southwest Wisconsin to demonstrate that the Internet and all of its features can be offered to rural communities. Richland-Grant Telephone Cooperative offers services ranging from simple dial-up access accounts and web pages to dedicated facilities for business and education.

About Occam Networks Inc.
Occam Networks Inc. develops and markets a suite of Broadband Loop Carriers, innovative Ethernet- and IP-based loop carrier platforms that enable telecommunications service providers to profitably deliver a variety of traditional as well as packetized voice, broadband and Internet Protocol (IP) services from a single, converged, all-packet access network. Occam is headquartered in Santa Barbara, Calif. Additional information can be found at www.occamnetworks.com.

Portions of this press release may contain forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future performance of Occam Networks. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from any future performance suggested in such statements. Rapidly changing technologies and market conditions may require changes to Occam's products. Occam does not undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Please also refer to the company's most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q, annual report on Form 10-K and other filings with the SEC. These filings contain and identify other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements.