Tuesday April 28, 8:21 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Ascend Communications, Inc. Inks Multi-Million Dollar Agreement With
Digital Broadcast Network for State-of-the-Art High-Speed Data Network
Ascend Provides Full Suite of WAN Equipment For DBN's Rollout of IP-Based ATM Network
Capable Of Speeds Up To OC-48 (2.4 Gbps) Linking 28 U.S. and Canadian Cities
ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 28, 1998-- Ascend Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASND - news) and Digital
Broadcast Network Corporation (DBN) today announced that they have signed an agreement for Ascend to provide more
than $20 million in equipment for DBN's rollout of an Internet Protocol (IP) based Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)
network linking 28 U.S. and Canadian cities. This high-speed voice, video and data network is being engineered to deliver
converged technologies at speeds up to OC-48 (2.4 Gbps).
DBN has agreed to purchase Ascend's full suite of remote access, switching, and routing products, including the
market-leading B-STDX 9000 Multiservice Frame Relay switches, CBX 500 Multiservice ATM switches, GX 550 ATM
Core Switches, GRF 400 and 1600 Multi-gigabit Routers, SA 100 and 600 ATM Access products and MAX TNT WAN
Access Switches. The entire DBN network will be managed by Ascend's suite of Navis network and service management
products. DBN's network is capable of switching traffic at speeds up to 25 Gbps by utilizing Ascend's GX550 ATM Co re
Switches in each city.
''We are pleased and excited to work with Ascend in the development of what promises to be one of the most robust,
fully-featured data networks in the country,'' said Timothy M. Roberts, DBN's President and CTO. ''When we evaluated
vendors we came to the conclusion that only Ascend had the best-of-breed solutions in each of the major categories that were
strategic to our network: remote access, switching and routing. When you add the ability to develop, provision and manage
new data services using Ascend's unique Navis suite, the choice was crystal clear.''
''We have known Tim Roberts since his days as a pioneer with SAVVIS, and he has clearly demonstrated his vision, once
again, at DBN in bringing new-generation data services products to the market,'' said Dan Smith, Executive Vice President
and General Manager of Ascend Communications' Core Switching Division. ''We are honored that he chose Ascend as a
vendor, and pleased that DBN saw the advantage in choosing best-of-breed solutions across our entire product line.''
Leveraging ATM as its transport protocol allows DBN to offer higher levels of security as well as a higher standard of service.
The company can share bandwidth between multiple applications by setting priority levels from the most to least important
applications. This new method in delivering products will enable DBN's enterprise customers to outsource IP management,
thereby reducing the burden on their already overworked IS departments, and to utilize the full product suite of voice, video
and data solutions.
By utilizing the Internet, along with its own high quality of service network, DBN can show companies cost savings on their
voice services. ATM also allows the company to more efficiently utilize the access line going into the customer premises --
giving it the ability to combine voice, video and data on a single connection.
''With the convergence of these voice, video and data technologies, DBN is uniquely positioned within the market to deliver
offsite data management. These solutions provide data storage, data backup, disaster recovery and data hosting services,'' said
Richard S. Skoba, DBN's Senior Vice President of Business Development - Data Management.
DBN's massive data centers, located in St. Louis, Austin, New York and San Francisco, are capable of streaming real-time,
on-demand audio and video applications and content. DBN believes this new model will allow for the delivery of advanced
applications not seen in the industry today. This is because of DBN's quality of service guarantees from storage to server to
network.
DBN's suite of products and services will focus on the convergence of voice, video and data on an ATM fiber optic network
capable of simultaneous transmissions of IP phone, Internet/intranet/extranet networks, virtual private networks, video
streaming and data storage. The company will deploy Ascend's SA 100 and SA 600 Broadband Access products providing
their corporate customers a single integrated interface for all voice and data services, significantly reducing costs. Corporate
customers will now be able to connect their Ethernet LANs and voice networks to DBN's integrated high performance ATM
and Frame Relay backbone.
The network will connect larger markets and areas where fiber paths are readily available. The initial cities on DBN's network
will include Austin, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles,
Memphis, Minneapolis, Nashville, New York, Palo Alto, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pompano Beach, Saint Louis (CORE &
Redundant), San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa, Toronto, Vancouver, and Washington, D.C.
''The fact that our network transport utilizes ATM technology, will allow DBN to combine voice, data and video into one
signal, thereby reducing administrative costs for our customers,'' Roberts said. ''DBN's sustained usage rate guarantees will
allow our backbone to grow to OC-48 speeds of up to 2.4 Gbps.''
From a security standpoint, ATM will allow DBN to carve out virtual channels, which cannot be done with the traditional
frame-relay networks currently used by the major carriers. ATM will also minimize the need for corporate MIS, IP Network
administrators and technical staff by providing holistic solutions to DBN's customer base. DBN's solutions will include software
applications, IP phone, Dial-Tone, Long Distance, Internet, video conferencing, point to point video, real-time on-demand
video services, Intranet, network computer enhancements and offsite data storage/backup solutions.
DBN will provide turnkey network solutions to corporate customers. Besides developing and maintaining massive network
data centers and the OC-48 national network, DBN will also provide consulting, engineering, and specialized software
development services to clients.
''DBN is being built by people from a wide variety of backgrounds to help give our clients an alternative to the restrictions of
the existing network infrastructure,'' Roberts explained. ''We will position ourselves as a single-source solution to businesses
that currently purchase these services from multiple vendors. That convergence will not only save our customers time, but
ultimately it will save them money.''
Roberts, who co-founded the St. Louis-based SAVVIS Communications in 1995, is considered a pioneer in the emerging
field of convergence technology, where voice, video and data communications are packaged together. His previous experience
includes the award-winning design and construction of two of the first ATM network solutions for SAVVIS and Skyscape
Communications in Toronto.
In 1997, Roberts' network design for SAVVIS was voted number one for price, performance and load in a study conducted
by Keynote Systems and Boardwatch Magazine of 29 national networks including MCI, Sprint, UUNET, PSI, and AGIS.
About Ascend Communications
Ascend Communications, Inc. develops, manufactures, sells and services wide area networking solutions for
telecommunications carriers, Internet service providers and corporate customers worldwide.
Press and Industry analysts, please contact Meredith Valt, Alexander Communications, (415) 923-1660,
mvalt@alexandercom.com: Investors and financial analysts, please contact Kristina Graziano, (510) 747-2345,
kristina.graziano@ascend.com for all other inquiries please call toll-free: 800/ASCEND4.
For more information about Ascend and its products, please visit the Ascend web site at www.ascend.com, or send e-mail to
info@ascend.com. Ascend is headquartered at One Ascend Plaza, 1701 Harbor Bay Parkway, Alameda, Calif. 94502;
phone is 800/ASCEND4 and fax is 510/814-2300.
About Digital Broadcast Network Corporation
Digital Broadcast Network Corporation was founded in 1998 to provide holistic computer and communications services to
Fortune 500 companies and professional users such as software companies and last mile providers (cable, satellite, and
phone). DBN will offer a fully supported national network that will allow users to share bandwidth between voice, video and
data applications with quality of service guarantees. DBN's metered billing system will provide an economical way for
companies to cut costs without loosing the security, quality, reliability and redundancy. DBN will utilize multiple private
network interfaces capable of offloading at speeds up to 622 Mbps to the major IP national network providers. This model
has been proven to increase network to network switching speeds by 66% by avoiding the MAEs and NAPs and allowing
enhanced network speeds even to other networks. DBN's network will allow companies to stream live events such as keynote
addresses, seminars, a CEO monthly broadcast or any event requires extreme amounts of bandwidth. DBN will also provide
consulting, engineering, and specialized software development services to clients.
Press and industry analysts, please contact Jim Roberts at Digital Broadcast Network, (314) 984-6857, ; Investors and
financial analysts, please contact Tim Roberts at Digital Broadcast Network, (314) 984-6848,; for all other inquiries please
call toll-free: 888/326-3638.
For more information about Digital Broadcast Network and its products, please visit the DBN web site at , or send e-mail to .
DBN is headquartered at Charter Communications Commons, 977 Charter Commons, Chesterfield, MO 63017; phone is
(314) 733-3100 and fax is (314) 733-3199.
The foregoing statements may contain forward looking statements that are based on current expectations and involve risks and
uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from these expectations as a result of factors including, but not limited to, the
Company's success in developing, introducing or shipping new products, competition, the mix of distribution channels
employed, the Company's dependence on single or limited source suppliers for certain components used in its products, risks
inherent in international sales, seasonality and general economic conditions. These and other factors are discussed in Ascend's
10-K, 10-Q and other filings made periodically with the Securities and Exchange Commission. |
