Wednesday November 12, 11:00 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Infonetics Report Shows Service Providers Rank Ascend Number One in
Both Frame Relay and ISDN
Survey Also Shows Ascend Holds Significant Internet ATM Marketshare
ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 12, 1997--Ascend Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASND - news) today
announced that the market analyst group, Infonetics Research, Inc., has released a study confirming that Ascend is the
worldwide market leader for ISDN and Frame Relay among both regional and large (national and international) network
service providers.
According to Infonetics, Ascend dominates the worldwide Internet ISDN market with a 69 percent marketshare, and the
nearest competitor is a distant 12 percent. Ascend also leads in Frame Relay with 42 percent of the worldwide market; the
next closest competitor had only 18 percent marketshare. In addition the report shows Ascend has achieved 23 percent
marketshare of the worldwide Internet ATM market.
Since the study was released, Ascend has broadened its product offering for Frame Relay and ATM, introducing the GX 550
''smart core'' ATM Switch and adding multiservice capabilities -- including Frame Relay and IP -- to its CBX 500 ATM
Switch. The GX 550 is the first ATM core switch to deliver OC-48/STM-16 speeds with SONET infrastructure capabilities
while providing end-to-end Quality of Service, which will to enable service providers to offer sophisticated ATM services
directly from the core. Similarly, the CBX 500 ATM Switch enables service providers to respond quickly to market changes
by making a broader range of services available on a single platform. At the same time, Ascend also introduced the Navis
Family of network management products, including NavisXtend applications, that among other industry firsts, enables service
providers to track and bill for services over ATM networks. All of these products and capabilities are designed to enable
carriers and ISPs to develop new business services and, a t the same time, provide greater accountability and control over
these services.
''One trend we see from ISPs in this high-growth market is that ISPs are trying to differentiate themselves competitively by
broadening their services or specializing on a few services,'' said Greg Howard, Director of Service Provider Programs for
Infonetics and director of the study. ''The ISP buying preferences highlighted in our study provide valuable insights into what
service providers need in order to be more competitive.''
''This study is especially gratifying for us because it confirms that Ascend is the vendor of choice across all of the different
service provider segments, not just the largest carriers and ISPs,'' said Daniel E. Smith, Ascend's executive vice president and
general manager, Core Systems Division. ''We will continue to strengthen our leadership in Frame Relay, and we expect to
make even greater strides in the ATM and IP space in the coming year with the introduction of new products like the GX 550,
enhancements to flagship products like the CBX 500, IP switching through the IP Navigator products, Multigigabit Routing on
the GRF Family, Service Access through the SA Family and value-added management products like NavisXtend and
NavisCore.''
Ascend Communications, Inc. develops, manufactures and sells wide area networking solutions for telecommunications
carriers, Internet service providers and corporate customers worldwide. For more information about Ascend and its products,
please visit the Ascend web site at ascend.com, or e-mail info@ascend.com . Ascend is headquartered at One
Ascend Plaza, 1701 Harbor Bay Parkway, Alameda CA 94502. Phone 800/ASCEND4; Fax 510/814-2300. |
