News release

HP Partners adopt HP OpenCall solutions to develop standardized solutions for the telecommunications industry

Telecom service providers generate new business and revenue opportunities with HP's robust product and service offering

MALAYSIA, Asia Pacific, Jan. 27, 2005

Building on HP OpenCall's leadership presence in 40 of the world's top 50 telecom service providers, HP today announced growing momentum in its regional partner network from 18 to 25 as well as the introduction of 13 new applications developed with the HP OpenCall solution platform. This announcement shall be made at the annual HP OpenCall conference for over 100 partners and customers. Independent solution vendors (ISVs) such as E-BUPT (China), FeelingK (Korea), InfraValley (Korea), XIUS (India) and NGC (Malaysia) have become HP partners and are already reaping the benefits of HP's standards-based, voice services solutions, realizing lower operating costs, increased revenues and greater profitability.

The enhanced voice services market is growing rapidly and forecasted to be one of the major catalysts driving today's telecommunications industry. As telecom companies seek to tap into new business opportunities with integrated messaging services, custom greetings and ring tones, information acquisition, customer support, voice mail and mass alerting technologies, more and more ISVs are turning to HP's dedicated family of products and solutions in the HP OpenCall Software Portfolio. In its second year, the annual two-day forum, HP OpenCall Insight Days, brings together decision-makers from Asia Pacific's most renowned service providers, and showcases how HP OpenCall forms the core of cutting-edge products and services of the region's premier software vendors.

"HP's vision of an adaptive enterprise where IT and business are aligned to capitalize on change becomes reality with HP OpenCall solutions," said Steve Au-Yeung, vice president for the Software Group Business Unit in HP Asia Pacific and Japan. "HP OpenCall enables the telecom industry to harness the convergence of the Internet with voice communications by providing the means and leadership to transition customers from expensive proprietary systems to flexible, integrated solutions based on industry standards. This approach allows ISVs to achieve greater business agility, lower total cost of ownership as well as higher profitability."

New applications based on HP OpenCall unlock new revenue opportunities

More and more telecom companies across Asia are seeking to take advantage of new business opportunities and increase their competitive differentiation with revenue-generating enhanced services. Bringing together best-of-class third party products and the standards-based technology, reliability and compatibility of HP OpenCall platforms, HP delivers a wide range of management services for carriers and ISVs, enabling them to address their customers' most critical business issues, accelerate time-to-market, delivery effective business continuity and support, reduce costs, increase operational efficiency and boost profitability. These solutions include applications for the management of networks, operations, messaging, mobile, location-based, end-user and rich media services.

Expanding on the existing total of 18 applications developed with the HP OpenCall platform, within the past year, HP partners have added 13 new applications to the range. Reflecting the broad capabilities that can be developed with HP OpenCall solutions these new applications include the Interactive Voice Mail system from FeelingK (Korea), NGC's Music Ring Back Tone (Malaysia), Infinite's credit card verification system (Malaysia), XIUS' IN-based prepaid and roaming services (India) and InfraValley's HLR solution (Korea).

Capitalizing on the power of partnerships

HP in the region expanded its partner network from 18 in FY 2003 to 25 in FY 2004, an increase of almost 40 percent. These include 11 partners for OpenCall Media Platform, 5 for OpenCall Service Access Controller and 15 SS7 signaling partners. In 2005, HP will continue to maintain its strong partner focus with a comprehensive partner recruitment program which will roll out in the Asia Pacific region.

HP works in partnership with the world's leading providers of network solutions. The HP OpenCall Partner Program is dedicated to providing the services ISVs require to develop leading telecom solutions and get them to market fast. A world-class Developer Services team coupled with the Regional Marketing Centers support the HP OpenCall team in helping companies manage their solution's lifecycle and roll them out into the market.

About HP OpenCall

HP OpenCall provides comprehensive, carrier-grade platforms for the development and deployment of next-generation voice, data and converged services. Deployed in 40 of the world's top 50 service provider networks, HP OpenCall is the market leader in many industry categories, including SS7, mobility management and location services. Backed by HP's Telecom Critical Support which provides world-class restoration services internationally, as well as HP's superior combination of hardware and software, HP OpenCall enables the communications industry to harness the convergence of the Internet with the world of voice communications.

For further information on HP OpenCall platforms, visit: www.hp.com/go/opencall.

About HP

HP is a technology solutions provider to consumers, businesses and institutions globally. The company's offerings span IT infrastructure, global services, business and home computing, and imaging and printing. For the four fiscal quarters ended Oct. 31, 2004, HP revenue totaled $79.9 billion. More information about HP (NYSE, Nasdaq: HPQ) is available at www.hp.com.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions that, if they ever materialize or prove incorrect, could cause the results of HP and its consolidated subsidiaries to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including the expected development, performance or rankings of products or services; statements of expectation or belief; and any statement of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include the development, performance and market acceptance of products and services and other risks that are described from time to time in HP's Securities and Exchange Commission reports, including but not limited to HP's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended July 31, 2004 and other reports filed after HP's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Oct. 31, 2003. HP assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.