Advanced Fibre Communications Teams With US Robotics for End-To-End ADSL Solution
PR Newswire - April 21, 1997 14:48
FINANCIAL AFCI USRX CPR TLS V%PRN P%PRN
PETALUMA, Calif., April 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Advanced Fibre Communications,
Inc. (Nasdaq: AFCI) and US Robotics (Nasdaq: USRX) today announced a strategic
alliance to equip AFC's 3rd Generation Digital Loop Carrier (3GDLC(TM))
products to support ADSL service. Under the terms of the agreement, US
Robotics will supply unique ADSL line cards exclusively for AFC's UMC 1000(TM)
3GDLC product family and will ensure interoperability with US Robotics ADSL
customer premise equipment (CPE).
Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) is an emerging telephony
service that provides up to 8 Mbps data access, delivering 150 times the speed
of today's 56 Kbps analog modems. ADSL service uses standard telephone lines,
allowing telephone companies to deliver high speed data access with little
infrastructure retooling.
"Adding US Robotics' customer premise expertise to the UMC platform will
create an unprecedented end-to-end ADSL solution," says AFC director of
product marketing Tom Corker. "This is great news for service providers and
for ADSL subscribers, as compatibility problems can make ADSL deployment
costly and frustrating at both ends of the local loop."
"This landmark agreement teams up the leader in data access with the
leader in local loop access for a seamless ADSL solution" adds Ron Westernik,
marketing vice president of US Robotics' Broadband Access Communications
Division. "AFC customers will be able to provide ADSL service from embedded
UMC platforms, without installing any additional Central Office or customer
premise equipment. At the same time, the UMC 1000 provides a new application
for US Robotics' leading-edge modem technology."
AFC will announce technical details and product specifications for its new
ADSL line card at Supercomm '97, and will begin shipping the product later
this year. US Robotics will co-market several ADSL solutions with AFC,
including higher-speed DSL approaches such as VDSL.
AFC's UMC 1000 local loop access platform delivers basic and advanced
telephony services over copper, fiber optic, coaxial and wireless
infrastructures. The UMC 1000 gives telephone companies invaluable
flexibility by making it cost-effective to bring voice and data service to any
subscriber area regardless of population size and infrastructure.
With the ADSL line card, the UMC 1000 will offer ADSL functionality with a
simple plug-in module, allowing telephone companies to offer ADSL service
incrementally, subscriber by subscriber.
Bandwidth intensive applications such as ADSL must be delivered at shorter
distances from telephone company switching equipment. Digital loop carriers
such as the UMC 1000 are remote terminals used to bring telephony services
closer to subscriber areas previously served over a direct connection to a
central office switch. Telephone service providers use digital loop carriers
to minimize line lengths and increase the area that costly digital switches
can cover.
About US Robotics
US Robotics is one of the world's leading suppliers of products and
systems that provide access to information. The company designs,
manufactures, markets and supports remote access servers, LAN switching
equipment, desktop/mobile client products and modems, telephony products and
handheld organizers. US Robotics products connect computers and other
equipment over analog, digital and switched cellular networks, enabling users
to gain access to, manage and share data, fax and voice information. Its
customers include Internet service providers, regional Bell operating
companies, inter-exchange carriers and a wide range of other large and small
businesses, institutions and individuals. The company's fiscal 1996 sales
were $1.98 billion.
About Advanced Fibre Communications.
AFC is a leading manufacturer of telecommunications systems for the "local
loop" between telephone service users and public telephone networks worldwide.
AFC has pioneered a single platform that supports any network, any transport,
and any service. AFC's flagship product, the UMC 1000 next-generation digital
loop carrier, currently provides any service from POTS to ISDN over copper,
fiber, HDSL, coax and radio transport media. Additional information about AFC
can be found on the Internet at fibre.com.
NOTE: Advanced Fibre Communications, AFC, and the AFC logo are registered
trademarks and Universal Modular Carrier and UMC 1000 are trademarks of
Advanced Fibre Communications, Inc.
SOURCE Advanced Fibre Communications Inc.
CONTACT: Christine Corlett of Advanced Fibre Communications, Inc.,
707-794-7651, Chrstine.Corlett@fibre.com; or Ben Merritt of The Merritt Group,
703-435-6000, or ben@benmerritt.com, for US Robotics |
