PACW PacWest Bancorp

Pac-West Telecomm Launches PSTN On Ramp Enables Carriers and Other Communications Providers to Cost-Effectively Deliver IP-Based Services to Businesses and Residential Users STOCKTON, Calif., Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pac-West Telecomm, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACW), a provider of communications services to service providers and enterprise customers in the Western U.S., today announced the launch of PSTN On Ramp. PSTN On Ramp enables Pac-West to expand its service offerings to its existing customer base, as well as reach new customer segments. Targeted at carriers and providers of enhanced services such as unified messaging, calling cards, conferencing, Fax over IP, and Voice over IP (VoIP), PSTN On Ramp provides 2-way connectivity between the service provider and the PSTN (public switched telephone network) through Pac-West's SuperPOP network. Wayne Bell, Pac-West's Vice President of Marketing and Sales, said, "PSTN On Ramp is the first product in a suite of new services that Pac-West will be introducing in the coming months to enable the delivery of next generation services. With the rapidly expanding adoption of VoIP and other IP-based services, Pac-West's unique network architecture, gateway to the PSTN, and expansive Western U.S. footprint make us well positioned to shape this emerging growth market." According to IDATE, one of Europe's leading analyst groups specializing in telecommunications, Internet, and media sectors, by 2009 corporate voice over IP and telephone over IP will account for 40% of business telephone lines, or 180 million lines. By 2010, IDATE predicts that IP business calls will exceed 50% of all business traffic. (Source: VoIP Goes Big Business, eMarketer Daily, September 20, 2004.) PSTN On Ramp enables Pac-West's customers to rapidly enter new Western U.S. markets, including virtually 100% of California, without having to locate their equipment in every LATA (local access and transport area), which accelerates time to market and significantly reduces network equipment and operating costs. In California, where Pac-West offers wider local access coverage than SBC or Verizon, customers gain the added benefit of working with a single provider to cover the entire state. "Capitalizing on our gateway to the PSTN, Pac-West offers carriers and enhanced service providers a reliable, cost-effective solution for delivering IP-based services in the Western U.S.," continued Bell. "With PSTN On Ramp, our customers can offer businesses and residential users access to their enhanced services through a local phone call, which lowers both the providers' and end-users' access charges." Pac-West's service includes call origination and termination (local, intrastate, interstate, international, and toll-free), local telephone numbers, 2-way connectivity, and access to multi-rate center, multi-LATA coverage from a single Pac-West SuperPOP (switching center). For more information, please visit http://www.pacwest.com/pstn. About Pac-West Telecomm, Inc. Founded in 1980 and first incorporated in 1981, Pac-West Telecomm, Inc. has been offering telephone service to its customers since 1982. Pac-West is currently one of the largest competitive local exchange carriers headquartered in California. Pac-West's network averages over 120 million minutes of voice and data traffic per day, and carries an estimated 20% of the dial-up Internet traffic in California. In addition to California, Pac-West has operations in Nevada, Washington, Arizona, and Oregon. For more information, please visit Pac-West's website at http://www.pacwest.com/. Forward-Looking Statements In this press release, our use of the words "outlook," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "forecast," "project," "likely," "objective," "plan," "designed," "goal," "target," and similar expressions is intended to identify forward-looking statements. While these statements represent our current judgment on what the future may hold, and we believe these judgments are reasonable, actual results may differ materially due to numerous important risk factors that are described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2003, as filed with the SEC on March 30, 2004, which may be revised or supplemented in subsequent reports filed by us with the SEC. Such risk factors include, but are not limited to: our substantial indebtedness; an inability to generate sufficient cash to service our indebtedness; regulatory and legal uncertainty with respect to intercarrier compensation payments received by us; the declining rate at which intercarrier compensation payments are determined; the inability to expand our business as a result of the unavailability of funds to do so; adverse affects on our operations as a result of covenants in agreements related to our borrowings; the loss of key executive officers could negatively impact our business prospects; the possible delisting of our common shares from the Nasdaq SmallCap Market; and our principal competitors for local services and potential additional competitors have advantages that may adversely affect our ability to compete with them. DATASOURCE: Pac-West Telecomm, Inc. CONTACT: investors and media, Reid Cox of Pac-West Telecomm, Inc., +1-209-926-3417, or Web site: http://www.pacwest.com/

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