Tuesday October 17, 9:11 am Eastern Time
Press Release
Time Warner Telecom and Astral Point Communications Sign Multi-Year Contract Worth Up To
$100 Million
CHELMSFORD, Mass. & LITTLETON, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 17, 2000
Time Warner Telecom, a Leading Provider of Metro-Area
Optical Networks for Businesses, Plans To Deploy ON 5000 Nodes
to Provision and Manage its Optical Networks
Astral Point Communications, Inc. today announced that Time Warner Telecom Inc. (Nasdaq: TWTC - news) has signed a multi-year contract to purchase up to $100 million of Astral Point's optical network
equipment, including the ON 5000 Optical Services Node. Time Warner Telecom delivers high-bandwidth transport services in all of its 22 markets and will use Astral Point's ON 5000 to provide managed
capacity at speeds of OC-3 to OC-48, as well as soon to be launched next-generation products.
``The successful delivery of enhanced services over optical networks really begins with a new approach to customer service,'' said Larissa Herda, president and CEO of Time Warner Telecom. ``Our goal is
to activate new customers as quickly as possible, while meeting their demands to reshape and manage bandwidth on demand, interoperate with their existing infrastructure seamlessly and simplify provisioning
from a single point in our network. We need the ability to quickly provision advanced services, such as Gigabit Ethernet and high-bandwidth lambda services, to maintain our leadership position in the markets
we serve.''
Astral Point's ON 5000 Optical Services Node provides carriers a rapid, cost-effective means to deliver new transport services to their customers. The Astral Point solution creates a new multi-service
environment supporting rapid provisioning of Private Line Transport, ATM, IP, Gigabit Ethernet and Lambda services, allowing customers to expand their network capacity and offerings when and where they
are needed. Another key feature of the Astral Point ON 5000 network is its ability to provide rapid protection of services in the event of fiber cuts, ensuring that end-users will have reliable services despite a
catastrophic network event.
``The ON 5000 Optical Services Node allows us to quickly and cost-effectively deliver new services to customers while protecting our existing SONET investments,'' Herda added. ``The Digital Cross
Connect application provides us with the flexibility to optimize customer services to the edge of the network. Astral Point has demonstrated proficiency to help us meet our objectives with the most current
product capability and superior technical support.''
``Astral Point's high-capacity optical service products enable Time Warner Telecom to grow revenue now while allowing them to offer new applications, reduce network costs and empower customers to
mesh their networks seamlessly. In addition, they can rapidly provision services through our ONset element management platform,'' Raj Shanmugaraj, founder, president and chief executive officer of Astral
Point Communications, Inc., stated. ``Together these products give Time Warner Telecom the ability to gain a competitive edge by being able to obtain customers more quickly and to deliver services more
rapidly.''
Astral Point's ON 5000 Optical Services Node supports numerous networking functions through its switching fabric, including optical, SONET, ATM, DCS, IP, leased line TDM and Gigabit Ethernet traffic.
It also converts signals into DWDM optical wavelengths through its switching fabric and high-density DWDM Optical Service Modules. These and other features enable ON 5000 nodes to dramatically
improve the performance of very high-speed optical networks used to carry voice, data, video and other traffic. The product's performance derives from advanced and patent-pending capabilities that
combine, in a single platform, DWDM, ATM, IP and SONET interworking, centralized network management, rapid provisioning and reduced complexity.
About Time Warner Telecom
Time Warner Telecom Inc., headquartered in Littleton, Colo., builds local and regional optical networks to deliver ``last-mile'' broadband data, Internet access and voice for businesses. The company
currently serves customers in 22 U.S. metropolitan areas including: Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, Texas; Charlotte, Fayetteville, Greensboro and Raleigh, N.C.; Albany; Binghamton, New York
City and Rochester, N.Y.; Northern New Jersey; Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio; Memphis, Tenn.; Orlando and Tampa, Fla.; Indianapolis, Ind.; Milwaukee, Wisc.; San Diego, Calif.; and Honolulu, Hawaii.
Time Warner Telecom plans to activate its Los Angeles/Orange County, Calif. and Dayton, Ohio markets this year and to launch services over its optical networks in Denver, Atlanta, Chicago, Minneapolis
and Columbia, S.C. next year. With the acquisition of GST assets, Time Warner Telecom will offer service in 44 U.S. markets by the end of 2001. For more information about Time Warner Telecom, please
visit www.twtelecom.com.
About Astral Point
Privately held Astral Point Communications, Inc., of Chelmsford, MA, is pioneering the development of optical networking equipment to manage bandwidth for new types of services in metropolitan, regional
and other optical access markets. Its patent-pending Self-Healing Mesh algorithm on the ON 5000 node enables SONET-quality protection and restoration capabilities in a flexible ring or mesh network
topology that maximizes efficient use of optical power, simplifies service upgrades and optimizes use of the optical infrastructure. Its ONset element management system (EMS) enables service providers to
add hundreds of circuits in minutes from a single console; ONset also provides centralized management -- from a single console -- of circuit aggregation, grooming, LAN interconnection, banding and
transport functions. Additional information about these capabilities can be found on the Astral Point web site at www.astralpoint.com
Contact:
Astral Point Communications
Kevin Whalen
(978) 367-6289
kwhalen@astralpoint.com
or
The Strayton Group for Astral Point
Rob Strayton
(508) 655-6965
rob@strayton.com
or
Time Warner Telecom
Bob Meldrum
(303) 556-1354
bob.meldrum@twtelecom.com |
