| |
NETRAIL SELECTS ASCEND MULTISERVICE SWITCHES
AND HIGH-END ROUTING EQUIPMENT TO EXPAND
HIGH-PERFORMANCE, HIGH-SPEED NETWORK
BUSINESS EDITORS AND COMPUTER WRITERS
ALAMEDA, Calif. and ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 10, 1998--
Ascend Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASND.O), a leader in wide area
networking (WAN) solutions for providers and users of the Public
Network, and Netrail, Inc. today announced that Netrail, a Tier-One
Internet Service Provider, will deploy Ascend's Multiservice CBX 500
ATM and B-STDX 9000 Frame Relay switches and GRF 400 and 1600
multigigabit routers to expand its network to an additional 27 major
cities across the U.S.
Speed and performance were the biggest deciding factors in
Netrail's selection of Ascend equipment for its network. Netrail also
cited Ascend's ability to provide "Absolute" QoS for voice and data
services. Among other key factors in Netrail's selection of Ascend
were reliability, cost per city and the ability to bridge from Frame
Relay to ATM without disrupting the network.
"In building tomorrow's backbone today, we were looking for raw,
unadulterated speed and the highest performance and capacity products
we could get. Ascend fills the bill. The GRF is the fastest router we
can get our hands on now -- it provides a much faster connection for
Internet backbones than competitive products," said Dave Diaz,
Netrail's Chief Technology Officer. "Our aim is to eliminate potential
bottlenecks, and overall, Ascend enables us to deploy clear channel
circuits and light our backbone with the highest capacity switches."
The newly purchased Ascend multiservice switches and multigigabit
routers will be used to expand the initial Netrail network which
consists of Ascend B-STDX 9000 Frame Relay switches and GRF
multigigabit routers across six cities.
Netrail is upgrading the current six-city Frame Relay backbone
with CBX 500 multiservice switches which will allow it to deploy Voice
over IP services in the near future. In addition, it will deploy a GRF
1600 multigigabit router, a CBX 500 ATM switch, and a B-STDX 9000
Frame Relay switch in each of the 27 additional cities. Netrail will
move to an OC-3 ATM backbone between all the routers and switches in
the network and provide T1 and T3 access to downstream Internet
Service Providers (ISPs), and Web hosting over the expanded network.
"We are delighted that Netrail is choosing our multiservice
switches and high-speed routers to expand its network," said Hassan
Ahmed, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Core Systems
Division, Ascend Communications. "The growing numbers of service
providers selecting Ascend carrier class WAN products underscores our
ability to deliver the speed, performance, "Absolute" QoS and service
management that are critical success factors for today's new public
network infrastructure."
Netrail plans to expand the first build of its network at the
rate of about one city every ten days. The company also is planning an
additional second build which likely will cover 20 more cities with
additional Ascend technology.
According to Dataquest's 1997 year-end statistics for the WAN
networking market, Ascend maintained the number one position in Frame
Relay sales in North America. In the recently released report, Ascend
continued to lead the competition, with 38.3 percent revenue market
share in Frame Relay, and increased its revenue in ATM by 247 percent.
As one of only eight Tier-One ISPs, Netrail is authorized to peer
directly with other ISPs, thus eliminating latency and minimizing hop
count. Tier-One status also enables Netrail to provide its customers
with direct access to other backbone networks by eliminating access
points.
About Netrail
Netrail, Inc. is a privately held IP focused carrier providing a
wide spectrum of data services targeted at the Corporate Enterprise
market. Netrail operates a nationwide, facilities based ATM network
and offers dedicated, private dial and secure colocation services as
well as customized Internet centric solutions in markets that will
expand to forty metropolitan areas by year end 1998. Headquartered in
Atlanta, GA, Netrail was incorporated in 1994 and is one of eight Tier
One Providers. Colo facilities: Atlanta-NAP, Miami, Arlington,
Chicago, San Francisco. Call 888-NETRAIL for further information.
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 Julie Asher,
Alexander Communications, jasher@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 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.
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.
--30--ba/sf*
CONTACT: Ascend Communications, Alameda
Mike Robinson, 978/952-1576
michael.robinson@ascend.com
or
Alexander Communications
Julie Asher, 404/897-2300
jasher@alexandercom.com
or
Netrail, Inc., Atlanta
David Diaz, 888-NETRAIL
davediaz@netrail.net
KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA GEORGIA
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMED COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS
INTERACTIVE/MULTIMEDIA/INTERNET PRODUCT
Today's News On The Net - Business Wire's full file on the Internet
with Hyperlinks to your home page.
URL: businesswire.com
Copyright 1998, Business Wire
|
|
