MELBOURNE, Australia - 24 September, 2007 - Haliplex Pty Ltd, a leading developer of Utility network solutions, today announced the appointment of Richard Cookes as Chief Executive Officer.
Established in 1999, Haliplex designs and manufactures modular optical multiplexers that protect investment in SDH/SONET technologies, extend the life of legacy TDM infrastructure, and provide a pay-as-you grow migration to the Next Generation Network. Haliplex's customers include many of the world's most progressive rail, power and mining companies.
Richard Cookes, who has held various international sales and marketing management roles in the ICT sector for over 27 years, was selected by the Haliplex Board of Directors to capitalize on the company's recent wins in global Utility markets.
Wayne Fitzsimmons, board member and Principal of venture capital investment firm, M-Group, said Cookes' appointment would bring a unique expertise to the company.
"Richard has a longstanding association with M-Group, and a proven ability to lead ICT startups to success; most notably founding and selling local Australian company Authentic8 to NASDAQ listed ActivCard." Fitzsimmons said.
"I have every confidence that Richard will take Haliplex to a new level of international success with his inimitable vision, industry experience and leadership flair." He said.
In a media briefing today Cookes said that he was energized by the prospect of guiding Haliplex through its next growth phase and was impressed by the company's existing partnerships with global leaders such as Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN).
"Over the next twelve months Haliplex will move into a new stage of partner-driven expansion with an emphasis on the worldwide Utility market, and the fortification of key strategic relationships through cooperative development." Cookes said.
Media Enquiries: Matthew Balfe, Marketing Communications Manager
Tel 
+61 3 9727 7222
ABOUT HALIPLEX
Haliplex is a leading manufacturer of next-generation edge access and multiplexing solutions for the Utility market. Haliplex designs flexible and modular Multi-Service Provisioning Platform (MSPP) products that are the smallest of their kind, and can be deployed as part of an existing or entirely new SONET/SDH network. Haliplex products allow network designers to deploy traditional or next-generation services including bandwidth Ethernet-to-PDH.
Formed in 1999, Haliplex Pty Ltd is a privately held ASIC registered corporation, priding itself on superior corporate citizenship and conforming to ISO 9001 Quality and ISO 14001 Environmental Management standards. The Haliplex headquarters in Melbourne, Australia, features an extensive research and development facility, and sales offices have been established in Australia and the United States. A worldwide network of distributors, system integrators and resellers ensure that customers have world-class, in-country Haliplex product customer support.
ABOUT RICHARD COOKES
Richard Cookes has spent the past 27 years in the technology industry, holding positions in sales, marketing and product management. In addition to over two decades of operation in Australia and the US, Richard has had heavy involvement in the South East Asian region.
After beginning his career in sales with HP's largest OEM partner, Richard graduated through a series of regional sales and marketing positions with Distributed Data Processing Pty Ltd before assuming key executive appointments with the world's 6th largest privately held PC Software company, Attachmate Corporation (USA), including VP Product Development and Director Product Management/Marketing. In 1997 Richard assumed a Sales and Marketing Management position with Philips Public Telecommunications Systems (Australia), where he commercialized two years' research and development in smart card management and distribution technologies for an international market. Richard later lead a management buyout of Philips Smart Cards Software Group, and in turn founded Authentic8, boasting such industry affiliations as Microsoft. Authentic8 was later sold to ActivIdentity (NASDAQ: ACTI), for whom Richard assumed the role of Vice President of Sales and Marketing in South East Asia and Japan in the 7 years leading to his Haliplex appointment.
An experienced CEO and worldwide sales strategist, Richard joined Haliplex in 2007 to support the next phase of partner-driven growth.
