FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ALPHA TO PRESENT AT IEC 1999 BROADBAND ACCESS COMFORUM

Bellingham, Wash., January 12, 1999 - Alpha Technologies will give a technical presentation entitled “Powering Costs as Fiber Goes Deeper into the Local Loop” at the IEC 1999 Broadband Access ComForum.

This technical seminar, presented by Alpha Corporate Director of Technology, Thomas H. Sloane, presentation will discuss how the increasing demands for bandwidth and advances in access technologies are radically changing the way access networks are powered.

New access technologies such as xDSL and FITL are generally much more “power hungry” and much more widely distributed than conventional telephony and cable TV technologies – making power access more difficult. In addition, customers’ expectations of service availability, formulated from the current telephony network, are high, and these must continue to be met – despite powering challenges. In this session, access powering evolution is discussed, including new power architectures and backup technologies and review of an actual VDSL powering deployment.

Alpha Technologies Inc. develops power conversion, protection and standby products for telecommunications and cable television industries, including custom, application-specific power solutions. In addition to product development, Alpha Technologies provides a comprehensive range of installation and maintenance services to support its global customer base. Alpha Technologies is a member of The Alpha Group of companies.

The Alpha Group represents a global alliance of independent companies that share a common philosophy - create world-class powering solutions for communication, commercial, industrial and renewable energy markets.

For this and/or additional information in electronic form, go to www.alpha.com.