2/10/98 Star-Ledger (Newark N.J.) 044
1998 WL 3390462
The Star-Ledger Newark, NJ
Copyright Newark Morning Ledger Co., 1998
Tuesday, February 10, 1998
BUSINESS
NEW JERSEY COMPANIES
AT&T expected to select Ascend AT&T Corp. is expected to
select Ascend Communications Inc. as a supplier of high-speed
switches for its telecommunications network.
According to Bloomberg News, the contract calls for Ascend to
supply AT&T with multi-service switches, which can route voice and
data traffic on a computer network using multiple communication
technologies, analysts said. They said the contract could be worth
up to $30 million. Ascend had sales of $292.5 million in the latest
quarter.
Ascend and rivals Cisco Systems Inc. and 3Com Corp. view the so-
called carrier market, which includes phone companies and Internet
service providers, as a high-growth sales area in 1998. Ascend's
contract is significant because it beat its competitors and could
lead to more sales to AT&T, the largest U.S. telecommunications
provider.
"Any win at AT&T is a big one, especially against Cisco and 3Com,"
said James Wade, an analyst at BT Alex. Brown who has a "market
perform" rating on Ascend's stock.
AT&T confirmed that it uses Ascend's switches in its network but
declined to comment on any recent contracts. Officials at Alameda,
Calif.-based Ascend declined to comment. Beneficial sued A
Beneficial Corp. unit illegally collected from bankrupt credit card
customers through the use of a controversial debt-collection
practice, according to a lawsuit in federal court.
The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Del.,
alleges officials of Beneficial National Bank USA persuaded some
customers to continue paying bills that could have been forgiven in
bankruptcy proceedings.
Beneficial executives achieved this through use of so-called
"reaffirmation agreements," which the company failed to file in
court, according to the suit filed by Beneficial customer Deric J.
Pereira. While the agreements are legal, failure to file them with
the court is a violation of federal law.
In October, Sears, Roebuck & Co.'s $273 million settlement of
class-action lawsuits by debtors who signed unfiled reaffirmation
agreements won a judge's final approval. General Electric Co.
currently is in the midst of consolidated litigation filed by
bankrupt credit card customers over the same practice. A bankruptcy
law reform panel has recommended doing away with reaffirmation
agreements in many bankruptcy cases.
Pereira, of Fall River, Mass., agreed to repay $1,290 to
Beneficial National Bank in $30 installments under a reaffirmation
agreement he signed as part of his Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing.
"Beneficial never filed (Pereira's) reaffirmation agreement with the
court," the suit contends. First Morris Morristown-based First
Morris Bank said its fourth-quarter profits increased 12 percent to
$600,000, or 66 cents a share, compared with $536,000, or 60 cents a
share, for the year-earlier quarter.
For all of 1997, net income increased $2.2 million, a 10 percent
increase, from $2 million in 1996.
Diluted per-share earnings for the entire year rose to $2.44 from
$2.23 a year earlier.
---- INDEX REFERENCES ----
COMPANY (TICKER): Ascend Communications Inc.; AT&T Corp. (ASND T)
NEWS SUBJECT: World Equity Index (WEI)
INDUSTRY: Long Distance Telephone Providers; Telephone Systems; Telecommunications, All (LDS TLS TEL)
SIC: 3576; 6021
EDITION: FINAL
Word Count: 461
2/10/98 STLGRN 044
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