ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 30, 1998--Ascend
Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASND) today announced an enhanced SA 600
Broadband Access Concentrator that now provides a high-capacity
multi-service entry point into an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)
wide area network (WAN).
Also announced today is an enhanced Inverse Multiplexing for ATM
(IMA) Interface Card, for both the SA 600 and SA 100 Broadband Service
Unit. This new IMA card complies with the ATM Forum V1.0 IMA
specification, and is available in 4-port T1 or E1 configurations. The
card combines multiple T1/E1 interfaces into a single virtual circuit,
bridging the gap between T1/E1 and T3/E3, and giving service providers
the broadest possible selection of network access options to offer
their corporate customers.
The enhanced SA 600 joins the SA 100 as part of an expanding
family of Ascend broadband access products that enable service
providers to leverage the inherent capabilities of ATM while extending
their reach to corporate customers.
"The phrase 'carrier-class' means much more than compliance with
telco regulations," said Fred McClimans, CEO of competitive
intelligence firm Current Analysis, Inc. "Ascend has realized this in
providing the necessary features to offer carrier-class services,
through increased bandwidth flexibility and upgradability to address
the gap between T1 and T3 service offerings."
"Service providers now have the flexibility to add real value to
their carrier-class ATM networks with innovative, managed service
offerings that generate additional revenue," said Jim Mooney, Senior
Product Marketing Manager in Ascend's Core Systems Division. "Service
providers can enter a new service area by deploying SA 100s, and then
place a SA 600 to provide high-density concentration when the
subscriber area gets saturated. The SA 600, with its high-speed
network connections, leverages the initial capital investment of a
service provider while having minimal impact on operations overhead."
The SA 600 provides a high-density, cost-effective platform for
adapting legacy protocols into an ATM data format for high-speed,
efficient transport. Regional ATM traffic is economically concentrated
for transport to a core ATM network, reducing trunk requirements.
Further, service providers can create a broad portfolio of new,
value-added services and deliver these services at price points that
will differentiate them from the competition. Equipped with this
capability, service providers can proceed with broad deployment of ATM
services.
The SA 600 provides a single carrier-class platform for both
locally connecting and remotely concentrating a wide spectrum of
high-performance, "plug and play" services. These include Native LAN,
Circuit Emulation, Serial Frame, and ATM UNI. ATM WAN connections
range from T1/E1 and T3/E3 to OC3/STM1, and the latest release of
Ascend's Inverse Multiplexing for ATM (IMA) may be incorporated into
the product to provide even greater flexibility.
Service providers can use their existing Navis network and
service management products to manage the SA 600 and SA 100, enabling
service provisioning end-to-end from a single network management
platform with a familiar interface.
Pricing and Availability
The enhanced capabilities in the SA 600 are available now. SA 600
pricing begins at $18,000. The IMA Interface Cards are also available
now, and pricing begins at $4,000.
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