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Frontier Laying the Foundation for an Integrated Voice, Data and Video Network; Signs Agreement with Cascade Communications for Frame Relay Switches
PR Newswire - June 24, 1997 09:16
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ROCHESTER, N.Y., June 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Frontier Corporation (NYSE: FRO)
announced today that it has reached an agreement with Cascade Communications
Corp. (Nasdaq: CSCC) to deploy additional Cascade B-STDX 9000 frame relay
switches throughout Frontier's nationwide network later this year. Frontier
will also be upgrading its existing Cascade frame relay switches to offer
enhanced frame relay and data services.
"This is the next step in building a national, robust, integrated and
multi-dimensional network to bring together Frontier's present and future
voice, data and video capabilities," said Robert L. Barrett, Frontier's
president of network systems. He added that many of these capabilities are
inherent to the Cascade switches, and will be further enhanced by Frontier's
fiber optic SONET network which is currently under construction.
According to Barrett, Frontier is presently building and developing the
frame relay support infrastructure to deploy competitively-packaged national
frame relay services to business customers in the latter part of this year.
The rapidly growing demand for frame relay is fueled by customers who see
a number of benefits to the technology. Frame relay allows users to "burst"
data, so they pay for lower bandwidth but have the ability to use higher
bandwidth when needed. It provides room for growth, letting customers add new
sites to the network over time. And frame relay enhances customers'
productivity, affordably allowing them to share applications and information
with remote locations.
"Our customers' applications are becoming increasingly complex and, in
many cases, require very high bandwidth and very high availability," noted
Barrett. "This requires a high performance, high capacity network. Frame
relay offers customers more flexibility and more bandwidth at lower prices
than private line networks."
"We are delighted that Frontier has chosen Cascade's B-STDX frame relay
switches as the basis for its national network," said Bob Machlin, Cascade's
vice president of marketing. "The B-STDX has the bandwidth and scalability to
help Frontier keep pace with the increasing demands of its customers for
diversified services."
Barrett added, "Cascade has the proven ability to anticipate industry
trends and can provide the advanced technology we need to support our
customers' growing business and technical requirements." He noted that
Frontier is setting the stage for additional data intensive offerings such as
ATM.
Frontier's fiber optic SONET network is scheduled to be completed in 1998
and will be the backbone for the company's integrated voice, data and video
technologies. "We are creating one of the most sophisticated networks in the
industry, with unparalleled performance, flexibility and reliability," said
Barrett. "Our move into the nationwide frame relay market is a reflection of
our commitment to keeping pace with the increasingly sophisticated and dynamic
requirements of our customers."
Frontier has been providing frame relay services in upstate New York and
the upper midwest for several years. These service offerings will be
integrated with the company's national frame relay product to provide even
better service to existing frame relay customers.
Cascade Communications Corp. is at the forefront of broadband data
communications with its family of scaleable, carrier-class frame relay, ATM,
IP and remote access switching products. Used by public carriers and Internet
service providers worldwide, Cascade products are forming the foundation of
the public network infrastructure for global communications. Cascade is
headquartered in Westford, Massachusetts, with offices through the Americas,
Europe and Asia/Pacific.
Frontier Corporation is the parent company whose long distance, local
telephone and wireless communications subsidiaries provide a range of
integrated services to customers. Frontier is an S&P 500 company with
annualized revenue approaching $2.5 billion. With nearly 8,000 employees and
sales locations nationwide, Frontier is the fifth largest long distance
company in the United States.
You can receive a faxed copy of any Frontier Corporation press release
dating back to June 1996, free of charge, 24 hours a day. Call 800-758-5804,
extension 762302. An automated system will provide you with instructions.
SOURCE Frontier Corporation
CONTACT: Randal A. Simonetti, media, 716-777-5886, or Kirsten Sullivan,
investors, 716-777-6179, both of Frontier; or Lucia Graziano of Cascade,
508-952-1291
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