Ascend Communications Reaches Major Milestones: 12 Million Remote Access Ports, Over Two Million Multiservice Ports
ALAMEDA, Calif.----May 5, 1999--
Ascend Network Switches Have Allowed Service Providers to
Create
Inexpensive Dial-up Internet Access and Value-Added Services,
Fueled Explosive Growth; Over 150 Million Internet Users
Today Connect Via Ascend Equipment
Mirroring the explosive growth of the Internet, Ascend
Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq:ASND - news), the leading provider
of wide area networking (WAN) and Intelligent Network (IN)
solutions for providers and users of the next-generation public
network, today announced it has reached a major milestone with
the shipment of its 12 millionth remote access port, more than
twice as many as the company's nearest competitor.
These ports are the connecting points that allow millions of
individuals and businesspeople around the world to access the
Internet, through modems, as well as high-speed broadband
connections.
These milestones illustrate the extensive growth of the Internet:
assuming from 10 to 20 Internet subscribers per port, the 12
million ports represent at least 150 million Internet users around
the world connecting via Ascend equipment. Only 3 years ago,
even the most optimistic estimates had the worldwide Internet
population at just over 30 million total.
''The Internet has clearly changed much about how we work, live
and even play -- it has become a major force for both economic
and social change, perhaps the largest such catalyst since the
advent of the steam engine,'' said Curtis N. Sanford, executive
vice president and general manager of Ascend's Access Switching
Division.
''As the first company to focus itself exclusively on building the
'plumbing' or infrastructure for the Internet, Ascend has been a
star performer in the high-technology space. We congratulate our
employees, customers and shareholders all for helping us reach
this significant milestone.''
Ascend, which this year is celebrating its tenth anniversary also
announced today that it has shipped over two million multiservice
Frame Relay and asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) ports. While
remote access devices allow connections in to the Internet,
multiservice switches are the highways over which travel huge
volumes of Internet traffic -- data, video and more recently, voice.
Sanford's remarks correspond with a special ceremony held
yesterday at Ascend's Alameda headquarters, in which Carl
Showalter, vice president of dial access for UUNET Technologies,
an MCI Worldcom Company, joined Sanford as the ceremonial 12
millionth port rolled off the Ascend manufacturing line. At the
same time, employees in the company's Westford, Mass. facility
feted the equally significant multiservice switching milestone.
Ascend and Its Customers Are Building The Next-Generation
Public
Network
Founded to provide high-speed public network communications
through Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) technology,
Ascend has executed flawlessly on a strategy to build solutions
for service providers building their next-generation public
networks.
This is a packet-based infrastructure that allows a combination of
voice, data and video traffic to flow smoothly and rapidly, allowing
service providers to increase their revenues while lowering costs,
and enabling a whole new generation of applications such as
electronic commerce (E-commerce), broadcast video and audio
over the Internet, and much more.
The world's largest network service providers are using Ascend
technology and solutions to build next-generation public
networks. Companies such as AT&T, Bell Atlantic, MCI Worldcom,
PSINet, UUNET, Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom and others
are deploying tens of millions of Ascend remote access ports, and
thousands of Ascend's multiservice switches as they expand their
services to keep pace with the dramatic growth of the Internet.
''The list of companies that have helped UUNET to pioneer
commercially-available, affordable Internet connectivity is very,
very short, and Ascend is definitely on the list,'' said Showalter.
''It's not an exaggeration to say that we were there together from
the very beginning, when the idea of connecting people on their
PCs to the Internet via modems seemed like a crazy dream.
Ascend has played a significant role in UUNET's success, and we
congratulate them today on this major accomplishment.''
Ascend also identified early on a new class of data service
provider -- emerging carriers, such as competitive local exchange
carriers (CLECs) -- and created special packaging, solutions and
marketing programs to help these firms compete with companies
many times their size. Leading-edge service providers such as
Level 3, Qwest, Winstar and Williams Communications are
defining the future of communications using Ascend technology.
Major Industry Research Firms Validate Ascend's Market
Leadership
Major research firms continue to rank Ascend as the marketshare
leader in the key technology markets that enable the
next-generation public network. In remote access, and in
multiservice switching, Ascend has built a clear leadership
position in spite of stiff competition.
Recent reports reinforce Ascend's leadership in these key market
spaces:
-- International Data Corp named Ascend is number one in Total World
Wide Remote Access Server Concentrator Port shipments with 34.2
percent market share in Q1 1999
-- Dataquest results also show Ascend as leader of Total Remote
Access Concentrator Ports Shipped with 35.6 percent market share
in Q4 1998
-- Ryan Henkin Kent research studies confirm Ascend as the leader in
Service Provider Core ATM Market Share in 1998 with 33 percent
market share
-- The Dell'Oro Group confirmed in a report that Ascend is the
leader in worldwide MultiService WAN switch revenue to ISPs in
1998 with 46.4 percent market share
-- Cahners In-Stat confirmed Ascend as leader of worldwide
MultiService WAN Switch Revenue to Service Providers with 30.2
percent market share in 1998 |
