NMS Communications, NTT-ME, and Hitachi Enable Phone-Based Betting for Japan Racing Association

FRAMINGHAM, MA - Through its 11-year distribution partnership with NTT-ME Corporation, NMS Communications (NASDAQ: NMSS), a supplier of technology for tomorrow's networks, was selected by Hitachi Ltd. (TSE:6501/NYSE:HIT) to provide its high-density voice processing platform to power the Japan Racing Association's (JRA) nationwide touch-tone phone-based betting system, first implemented in February 2001. The resulting system allows betting tickets to be purchased via touch-tone phone, significantly reducing the operational and system maintenance costs associated with betting. The Japan Racing Association is a nearly 50-year-old Japanese governmental enterprise focused on the development and ongoing management of horse racing, as well as breeding of racehorses and other livestock. The JRA acts as a nerve center for a nationwide network of 10 racecourses and 27 off-course betting facilities, and oversees additional related activities such as registration and licensing for horse owners, jockeys and horses, horseracing education and equine medical research and care. NMS' high-density voice processing platform and NTT-ME's technical support have enabled Hitachi to provide the JRA with a system that allows betting tickets to be purchased via touch-tone phone, as well as through a PC-based system, within any of the JRA's off-course betting facilities around the country. This combined NMS Communications, NTT-ME, and Hitachi solution was implemented in February 2001, activating approximately 18,000 ports. It has enabled the JRA to reduce the operational and system maintenance costs associated with betting. As many as 40,000 ports within a total of 50 sites throughout Japan are planned for deployment. "NMS technology has provided us with world-class solutions for our customers time and time again, and the high density and carrier-grade capacity of the NMS platform was the only choice for the large, nationwide off-course wagering network that the JRA has," said Shuji Arima, senior vice president of NTT-ME. "We are delighted that the company was able to help the JRA to improve consumers' ability to participate in one of Japan's favorite national pastimes."