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Wednesday June 19, 8:53 am Eastern Time
Press Release
SOURCE: NCT Group, Inc.
Artera Breakthrough 'Virtual Broadband' Technology Solves 'Last Mile' Problem for Internet Users
Delivers DSL Speeds On Dial-Up
WESTPORT, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 19, 2002--Artera Group Inc., a subsidiary of NCT Group, Inc. (OTCBB:NCTI - News), today announced a technical breakthrough that internal testing indicates will allow dial-up users to achieve effective browsing speeds that exceed the performance of a 256 kbps DSL connection.

To be incorporated into Artera Turbo(TM) Release 2, Virtual Broadband(TM) will enhance the speed of all browsing activities including web surfing, web-based email and web-based file transfer. The new product is expected to be available in late 2002.

"In order to calculate the performance benefit of Artera Turbo's Virtual Broadband functionality," said Michael J. Parrella, Chairman and CEO of NCT Group, Inc., "we ran automated scripts that replicated the browsing habits of an average Internet user. Two identical PCs were used for the test, both running Internet Explorer®. Similar results were achieved with other browsers such as Netscape®. One of the PCs had Artera Turbo installed on it and was connected to the Internet via a single standard dial-up connection. The PC without Artera Turbo software was connected to the Internet via a DSL connection. The scripts simultaneously visited 150 distinct web pages from the 100 most popular Internet sites. Over the course of several months, we ran the scripts four times a day, both at peak and non-peak times. Each time the scripts ran, 70% of the URLs visited were the same pages visited in the previous run and 30% of the URLs visited were new pages. After the scripts were run, average display times were calculated with the SDSL results used as the baseline for all performance calculations."

Artera Turbo featuring Virtual Broadband will be offered through a distribution channel of service providers including ISPs, telcos and other resellers and will be sold on a subscription basis for a fraction of the cost of existing broadband offerings. The product will be easy to download and install.

Artera currently offers Artera Turbo for increased speed in multi-user, shared network environments. Customers of the currently-available Artera Turbo Release 1 product already experience a 50% speed boost on a single dial-up line. Present customers, both residential and business, will receive an automatic upgrade to the higher-performing Virtual Broadband.

According to Nua Internet Surveys, there are over 500 million home Internet users worldwide, many without access to any type of broadband service.

About Artera Group, Inc.

Artera Group's Artera Turbo service optimizes last mile performance and provides high-speed Internet usage to residential users and small and medium businesses. The performance of traditional dial-up connections as well as broadband connections such as cable, DSL, ISDN and T1 can be dramatically improved. Artera Group has several patents pending on these performance enhancement techniques. The service includes all other features necessary for optimal Internet usage--ultra-secure firewall, content control, e-mail, usage accounting and much more. For more information, visit www.arteragroup.com.

About NCT Group, Inc.

NCT Group, Inc. is a publicly traded, high-tech company with operating subsidiaries in media and communications. NCTI's strong technology base drives leading edge technological innovations. NCTI's communications subsidiaries include Artera Group, a provider of breakthrough "last mile" optimization technology for small and medium businesses and Pro Tech (OTCBB: PCTU - News), delivering headsets and proprietary technology to call centers. NCTI's media subsidiary, Distributed Media Corporation (DMC), delivers its unique place-based Sight & Sound(TM) microbroadcasting systems to out of home venues, offering advertisers exciting targeting opportunities. NCTI continues to foster ongoing development of company-developed technologies and complementary technologies from outside developers. For more information refer to www.nctgroupinc.com.



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