eir selects EXFO service assurance for its 3G, 4G & 5G networks

DUBLIN and QUEBEC CITY, July 28, 2020 — eir (LSE:EIR), Ireland’s principal communications company, and EXFO Inc. (NASDAQ: EXFO, TSX: EXF), the communications industry's test, monitoring and analytics experts, announced today a multi-year partnership for the development and optimization of eir’s 3G and 4G mobile services as well as the rollout of its 5G network, the largest in Ireland.

eir provides a comprehensive range of advanced voice, data, broadband and ICT services to the residential, small business, enterprise and public sector markets. As part of the operator’s ongoing investments in service quality for over one million subscribers, and following a competitive tender process, eir selected the following EXFO Nova service assurance solutions for end-to-end network performance analytics and troubleshooting:

• Nova Explorer provides deep end-to-end troubleshooting (from RAN to core), identification of root causes for customer complaints, and detection of quality degradations over multi-technology networks.
• Nova Analytics empowers informed and effective decisions based on network performance management analytics and business intelligence
• Nova Care was designed for customer service and technical support departments, providing on-demand subscriber-experience assessments for fast customer complaint analysis and diagnosis.
• These applications make the most of relevant data from EXFO passive agents as well as call traces and third-party probes.

These solutions are part of EXFO’s recently launched Nova Adaptive Service Assurance (A|SA), the first intelligent automation platform enabling mobile network operators to deliver ultra-reliable and high-quality service experience in 4G and 5G environments.

“eir is by far the largest investor in telecoms in Ireland and we are committed to keeping Ireland connected, including launching the country’s first 4G network and the continued expansion of Ireland’s largest 5G network,” said Guillaume Duhaze, eir Chief Technology Officer. “We chose EXFO as our partner because of the end-to-end capabilities of their service assurance solutions, as well as their shared focus on innovation to deliver fast, high-quality service to our over one million subscribers.”

“We are delighted to partner with eir to assure best-in-class mobile experience for their subscribers, whether on 3G, 4G or 5G networks,” said Abdelkrim Benamar, EXFO Vice President of Service Assurance, Systems and Services, “Network performance is now the key differentiator for mobile operators, and EXFO is committed to equipping them with the new breed of service assurance technologies required to cut through the complexity and reveal previously invisible problems.”

About eir

eir is the largest provider of fixed line telecommunications services in Ireland, offering broadband, voice, TV and data services to residential, small business, enterprise and government segments. eir is by far the largest investor in telecoms in Ireland and has begun a €1 billion capital investment programme to build the very best network experience for its customers.

About EXFO

EXFO (NASDAQ: EXFO) (TSX: EXF) develops smarter test, monitoring and analytics solutions for fixed and mobile network operators, webscale companies and equipment manufacturers in the global communications industry. Our customers count on us to deliver superior network performance, service reliability and subscriber insights. They count on our unique blend of equipment, software and services to accelerate digital transformations related to fiber, 4G/LTE and 5G deployments. They count on our expertise with automation, real-time troubleshooting and big data analytics, which are critical to their business performance. We’ve spent over 30 years earning this trust, and today 1,900 EXFO employees in over 25 countries work side by side with our customers in the lab, field, data center and beyond.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and we intend that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbors created thereby. Forward-looking statements are statements other than historical information or statements of current condition. Words such as may, expect, believe, plan, anticipate, intend, could, estimate, continue, or similar expressions or the negative of such expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events and circumstances are considered forward-looking statements. They are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements due to various factors including, but not limited to, macroeconomic uncertainty, namely the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on our employees, customers and global operations, including the ability of our suppliers to fulfil raw material requirements and services and our ability to manufacture and deliver our products and services to our customers; the effects of emergency measures related to isolation periods for individuals in affected areas, lockdown restrictions imposed by national governments on businesses in countries where we operate and have employees, and limitations on travel to attract new customers and serve existing ones; deteriorating financial and market conditions as well as a potential recession; trade wars, and our ability to successfully integrate businesses that we acquire; capital spending and network deployment levels in the communications industry

(including our ability to quickly adapt cost structures to anticipated levels of business and our ability to manage inventory levels with market demand); future economic, competitive, financial and market conditions; consolidation in the global communications test, monitoring and analytics solutions markets and increased competition among vendors; capacity to adapt our future product offering to future technological changes; limited visibility with regard to the timing and nature of customer orders; delay in revenue recognition due to longer sales cycles for complex systems involving customers’ acceptance; fluctuating exchange rates; concentration of sales; timely release and market acceptance of our new products and other upcoming products; our ability to successfully expand international operations and to conduct business internationally; and the retention of key technical and management personnel. Assumptions relating to the foregoing involve judgments and risks, all of which are difficult or impossible to predict and many of which are beyond our control. Other risk factors that may affect our future performance and operations are detailed in our Annual Report, on Form 20-F, and our other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Canadian securities commissions. We believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable based on information currently available to us, but we cannot assure you that the expectations will prove to have been correct. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. These statements speak only as of the date of this document. Unless required by law or applicable regulations, we undertake no obligation to revise or update any of them to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date of this document.

For more information:

Media relations:

Anais Merlin / Wilf Collins
CCgroup PR
+44 (0)20 3824 9200
EXFO@ccgrouppr.com

Investor relations:

Vance Oliver
Director, Investor Relations
(418) 683-0913, ext. 23733
vance.oliver@exfo.com