BPL Global Expands European Presence

BPL Global Acquires Euro Connect To Grow and Strengthen Leadership Position in Europe by Accelerating Smart Grid Development and Adding a Managed Services Offering

PITTSBURGH, Pa., December 11, 2006 - BPL Global™, Ltd., an international leader in "Smart Grid" technologies and broadband services over power lines (BPL), announced today its acquisition of Euro Connect SA. Through the terms of the deal, the Euro Connect team will continue as a reliable broadband service and solution provider to existing customers in Europe and Africa. BPL Global will accelerate business development in Europe, the largest consumer market in the world. This acquisition is the next step in the company's global expansion strategy. Pascal Julienne, CEO of Euro Connect, is appointed Executive Director BPL Global Europe. The Euro Connect headquarters outside of Paris in Le Mans, France will become the European headquarters of BPL Global.

"Euro Connect chose to close this deal with BPL Global to complement our broadband offering and expand into the emerging Smart Grid space," said Pascal Julienne. "We are firm believers in the BPL Global management team, as well as the promise of BPL Global's technology to help European utilities improve electric power reliability and efficiency. We are excited about BPL Global's commitment to customer success and access to capital; which will allow us to consolidate our presence in Europe and Africa."

Euro Connect has been accompanying operators in broadband for ten years, with robust technology in their networks and a managed services platform. The company has a fully equipped managed services facility providing operations management to over twenty key customers throughout Europe. Euro Connect has provided customers with network design, project management, installation and operations services for the European telecommunications, broadband and CATV markets and is the leader in managed services for Broadband over Power Lines in Europe.

"Our philosophy to think globally and act locally makes it essential to establish the right local presence to do business in a common language and culture with strong, lasting relationships. The success that Euro Connect has experienced over the years is testament to the strength of its team and its services, which makes this deal an excellent step in establishing our European presence," said Keith Schaefer, Chief Executive Officer, BPL Global. "We intend to leverage Euro Connect's managed services capability to accelerate Smart Grid and Power Line Communications deployments around the world."

The company will move quickly to execute Euro Connect's strong pipeline of broadband and Smart Grid projects. In addition to Power Line Communications projects in cities across France, projects have been launched which position BPL Global as a leader in Europe and Africa. One of these projects is a PLC deployment in Slovenia with the telecom subsidiary of the national electrical utility. A similar project in the Ivory Coast, with the national electrical and telecom operators, will enable villages to access Broadband over Power Lines.

"This combination of strengths will speed development of European markets for BPL Global and the Broadband and Smart Grid industries," said Andres Wydler, Executive Vice President of Business Development for BPL Global. "We expect to create the most advanced combination of Smart Grid applications and managed broadband services of any software platform on the market today."

BPL Global forms joint ventures with electric utilities and Internet service providers (ISPs), providing data, voice and eventually video broadband services over power lines to multi-occupancy buildings, businesses, government agencies, and consumers, while ensuring heightened reliability and efficiency of utility grids through Smart Grid initiatives. The company's integrated platform of Smart Grid applications includes demand and load management; outage management; grid monitoring and device control; as well as energy theft prevention.

About BPL Global
BPL Global™, Ltd. is a leading international provider of Smart Grid applications to utilities and broadband services to consumers via power lines. The company forms joint ventures with national/regional electric utilities and ISPs and provides Power Line Communications (PLC) and Broadband over Power Line (BPL) technology-based products and services. BPL Global specializes in end to end solutions, providing the best in technology, software, hardware, design, systems integration, and managed services.

Visit BPL Global on the Web at http://www.bplglobal.net/

Visit Euro Connect on the Web at http://www.euroconnect.fr/