Ascend Hopes To Hold Access Lead With 'TNT2'
zdnet.com
By Todd Spangler
March 22, 1999 10:56 AM ET
Ascend Communications is preparing to launch the
next generation of its 2-year-old Ascend MAX TNT
remote access concentrator, providing three times the
platform's current capacity, according to an executive
familiar with the company's plans.
The new access switch - which has various code
names, including TNT2 and TKO - will support three
DS-3 (45-megabit-per-second) wide area network
interfaces for a total of 135 Mbps, providing the
bandwidth to handle as many as 2,000 dial-up access
ports in a single switch, the source said. Ascend also
is said to be considering providing a single OC-3
(155-Mbps) interface on the TNT2.
"It's a very attractive box," the source said. "Ascend
has learned some lessons, and they will increase the
backplane speed to be more scalable. It will be able
to handle 2,000 ports all running at 56K - that's an
issue with the current TNT. It falls down at a certain
point."
Ascend's MAX TNT, which has been the best-selling
remote access concentrator among Internet service
providers and carriers since it was introduced in fall
1996, provides up to one DS-3 and up to 720 modems
in a single switch. The TNT2, in beta testing, would be
the highest-density concentrator available from any
vendor.
Curt Sanford, Ascend's executive vice president and
general manager for access switching, would not
comment on specific forthcoming products. However,
he acknowledged that the company is developing a
next-generation access platform slated to be available
later this year.
"What you'll see from us for the next 18 months is a
doubling of densities on our RAS [remote access
server] boxes, because the requirements of the
Internet access industry are to double and to double
again," Sanford said.
But some observers said Ascend already has fallen
behind the curve in keeping up with service providers'
demands for high-density access gear.
Despite the increasing availability of new broadband
services, there's no slowdown expected for dial-up.
Cahners In-Stat Group projected that the number of
analog access ports shipped will jump from 11.5
million in 1999 to 23.6 million in 2003 as more Internet
users hop online.
Ron Westfall, an analyst at Current Analysis, said it's
obvious that Ascend needs to introduce some
higher-density access platform just to keep its market
share from eroding further. Competitors have been
steadily eating away at Ascend's access lead,
including Cisco Systems and, more recently, Northern
Telecom, which provides an industry-leading 1,344
modems per access switch.
"Ascend was the king of RAS three years ago, but
now they simply need a new platform that can match
the other vendors in the market," Westfall said. "It's
not a secret that Ascend has to at least double its
capacity."
The pending launch of the TNT2 is happening at an
awkward time for Ascend. The company's merger with
Lucent Technologies, expected to be completed by
the end of June, has caused uncertainty for Ascend's
customers about the direction of its product lines,
especially the MAX TNT.
Though Ascend's Sanford would not comment on
details of the Lucent-Ascend merger, he said the
combined company has a very strong economic
incentive not to abandon its existing customers. "You
can be certain that we won't be taking any actions
that will leave behind a billion-dollar installed base," he
said.
Ascend, in fact, might gain significant synergies with
Lucent. The TNT2 is based on a digital signal
processor (DSP) chip from Conexant Systems,
according to the source. Ascend could decide to
redesign the TNT2 using Lucent's new DSP,
announced last week and designed for remote access
equipment. |
