DERRY, New Hampshire, MEERSBURG, Germany and SOPHIA ANTIPOLIS, France, March 18 /PRNewswire/ --

Cedar Point Communications, a worldwide leader in integrated Voice over IP (VoIP) switching technologies for service provider and enterprise telecommunications, today announced an increase in its presence in the European, Middle Eastern and African markets with the naming of telecommunications business development veteran Ivan Arietta as Vice President, Sales.

Arietta, whose 30-year international background includes positions as vice president with Avaya, Sonus Networks and Nortel Networks, will be responsible for driving deployment of Cedar Point's SAFARI C(Cubed) Multimedia Switching System into cable and telecom providers in Western Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East and Africa. He will be based in Sophia Antipolis and will work closely with Michael Brunsveld, vice president of sales, who is responsible for Cedar Point's business development efforts in Germany, Eastern Europe and the Nordic countries.

"The increased interest in VoIP in the EMEA region is creating significant new market opportunities for Cedar Point's simple, cost-effective solutions," said J.C. Murphy, executive vice president, worldwide sales for Cedar Point Communications. "Ivan has the expertise and the strong industry relationships that will enable him to communicate Cedar Point's unique ability to help service providers generate new revenues today and to migrate to advanced voice and multimedia services in the future."

Arietta joins Cedar Point after four years with Avaya, during which he served as vice president/managing director for Iberia and the Middle East, and as vice president for the Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa. During that time, he managed all business aspects of the company's US$60 million contact center and IP telephony business, and was responsible for substantial increases in revenue and gross margins.

Previously, Arietta served as regional vice president for Sonus Networks, for which he successfully increased market share for the company among major telecommunications operators in Southern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Prior to his tenure with Sonus, Arietta had risen to the position of vice president, Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa during his six years with Nortel Networks and Bay Networks, which was acquired by Nortel in 1998.

Arietta holds an MBA from Harvard University's Graduate School of Business Administration, and a B.S. in Mechanical Electrical Engineering from the National Engineering University in Lima, Peru.

About Cedar Point Communications

Cedar Point Communications' integrated switching platform enables the scalable, simplified and cost-effective delivery of VoIP and multimedia services for network operators. Designed to provide carrier-class performance and reliability, while increasing network integrity, security and privacy, Cedar Point's SAFARI C(Cubed) Multimedia Switching System supports legacy circuit, NCS and SIP-based voice services, as well as a migration path to IMS. The company is based in Derry, NH with offices in Meersburg, Germany, and Sophia Antipolis, France. For more information, please visit http://www.cedarpointcom.com.

Web site: http://www.cedarpointcom.com

Paul Schneider of PSPR, Inc. for Cedar Point Communications, +1-215-702-9784, or Mobile, +1-215-817-4384, pspr@att.net