HELIUS ANNOUNCES SATELLITE ROUTER FOR UNIVERSAL INTERNET ACCESS

OREM, Utah – March 1, 1999 – Helius, Inc. today released the Helius Satellite Router™ -- the first solution for small- to medium-sized businesses and K-12 schools needing high-speed Internet access and support from any location. The Satellite Router is an all-in-one box that includes Virtual Technician (SM) and Helius Optimized™ software. Customers benefit from easy integration with existing network systems, no-hassle remote setup and support, and increased throughput for satellite data services.

"Many smaller organizations are stuck in the slow lane on the information superhighway," said Myron Mosbarger, president of Helius, Inc. "Modems are too slow, high-speed dedicated lines are too expensive or simply unavailable, and customers just don't have the technical staff to deal with the hassles of installation and maintenance. "We designed the Helius Satellite Router to meet this need. It can be used virtually anywhere, has aggregate speeds up to 3 Megabits per second and can be configured and maintained from our offices without customer involvement."

Davis, Nichols & Associates LLP, an accounting firm in Valdosta, Ga., is representative of a small business facing serious obstacles to their information access needs. "We couldn't get decent high-speed Internet access in our area for less than $800-1,000 per month," said Stuart Avera, systems engineer at Davis, Nichols & Assoc. "The Helius solution came in at a fraction of that cost." After using the system, Avera was impressed with its stability. "It just sits in the corner and works -- there have been no issues with reliability."

The Helius Satellite Router is a thin server network "appliance" that works with any local area network, including Windows NT, Novell NetWare, Macintosh, Linux and Sun Solaris. It has the capacity to connect up to 250 concurrent users to the Internet, and system capabilities include interactive Internet; IP Multicasting; email, news, Web, AppleTalk and SMB servers; and caching and proxy services. "We refer to the Satellite Router as a network 'appliance' because a customer only has to plug it in, turn it on and it works -- no matter where they are located or what kind of network they have," said Dan Broadbent, vice president of marketing at Helius. "It's as simple as a toaster in the kitchen."

No-hassle Setup and Support with the Virtual Technician
Not only is installation simple, but with Helius' Virtual Technician setup and support is worry free.

The Helius Satellite Router can be installed anywhere in the world and configured and maintained from Helius offices in the United States.
Since Helius can support the Satellite Router from their offices, we'll never have to wait for a technician to drive here, or be left talking on the phone trying to explain what the system is doing," said Linda Smith, instructional media coordinator for California's Lassen County Schools. "I was also surprised how easy it was to get the Satellite Router up and running."

Once a customer has connected the Helius Satellite Router, they turn it on and call Helius. With Virtual Technician support, Helius verifies and tests the customer's configuration, and they are on the Internet. Because the Satellite Router is separate from the customer's network server, there are no concerns about privacy or unauthorized network access.

Lassen County, Calif., has more than 5,500 K-12 students in 23 schools spread over 4,500 square miles. Some of the areas are so remote that telephone service is provided by radio. Smith researched many ways to bring the Internet to the schools, but found her options were too slow or too expensive. Another roadblock was the distant location of computer technicians in Reno and Redding -- both an hour and a half drive away.

The Helius Satellite Router was the perfect solution.
The Helius Satellite Router will also be used by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services to provide data services for 34 youth correctional facilities throughout the state. For cost considerations they needed a system that could be designed once, installed in multiple locations and supported without the need to travel.

Increased Throughput with Helius Optimized Software
The Helius Satellite Router features Helius Optimized software that increases throughput 200-400 percent over other satellite-based data solutions by using Advanced Packet Filtering™ (APF) and Dynamic Service Multiplexer™ (DSM). APF increases realized throughput by eliminating non-essential data and ensuring only real data is sent and received over the Internet connection. DSM improves load balancing – or equal sharing of the service among multiple users – by aggregating satellite service into a shared service pool.

System Requirements
For Internet access the Helius Satellite Router requires a mini satellite dish, satellite service and an Internet connection for outbound data requests. The Satellite Router is compatible with any local area network and connects to the network hub, the satellite dish, an electrical outlet and usually an outbound data connection, such as an analog phone line.System

Pricing and Availability
Pricing for the Helius Satellite Router starts as low as US $2,499 for up to 30 concurrent users and is available through authorized Helius resellers; reseller inquiries are welcome. Virtual Technician support is included free for 90 days. Extended support agreements, including automatic software upgrades, are available for US $299 per year.

Helius, Inc., a privately owned, Orem, Utah-based company founded in 1995, developed the first software to manage Internet transmissions from satellites to local area networks. Helius Optimized software improves the efficiency and usability of satellite transmissions for the network environment. Helius, Inc. is a Canopy Group holding under the Ray Noorda/Canopy Group Investment Company. Ray Noorda is the former CEO of Novell, Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVL). For more information about Helius and its products visit http://www.helius.com or call 1-888-764-9020.