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(BSNS WIRE) Ascend Announces New Modules Offering Breakthrough Capabilit
Ascend Announces New Modules Offering Breakthrough Capabilities for
Carrier-Class Frame Relay Switches
Business Editors/Computer Writers
ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 8, 1997--
Company takes worldwide leadership position in multi-billion
dollar Frame Relay market, according to four leading
industry analyst groups
Ascend Communications, Inc., (NASDAQ: ASND) today announced four
new modules for its B-STDX Multiservice Frame Relay 8000/9000 WAN
switches offering customers new levels of performance and
cost-efficiency. In addition, the company announced it has shipped
over one million Frame Relay WAN switch ports since introducing its
flagship STDX and B-STDX switches in 1992.
Four leading industry analyst organizations confirmed that
carriers and ISPs have consistently selected the company's Frame
Relay switches, making Ascend the number one Frame Relay equipment
provider worldwide in 1996 and again in 1997. Ascend Frame Relay
marketshare leadership has recently been confirmed by Vertical
Systems Group, Dataquest, Infonetics and International Data
Corporation.
Ascend credits technological innovation for the success of its
products, and today extends that technology lead with the
introduction of four new modules for the B-STDX 8000/9000 product
family: 1) Channelized DS 3/1/0 module, 2) 12-port E1 module, 3) ATM
DS3/E3 Cell Switching module, and 4) ATM OC-3/STM-1 Interworking
Unit. With this announcement, Ascend continues to provide its
customers with new and improved tools to meet all their demands for
service, speed and density.
With these new modules, the B-STDX offers the industry's highest
port density for DS0 and DS1/E1 at the lowest price per port, the
best performance with its distributed processing architecture, and
the only multiservice solution that can support both Frame Relay and
IP in a single module. In addition, the B-STDX supports integrated
ATM with second generation Frame Relay-to-ATM interworking and native
cell switching.
"We're committed to continuing to make our service provider
customers successful with their current investments in Frame Relay by
delivering them new products and services to increase revenue and
lower costs," said Bob Sullebarger, Senior Manager, Product
Marketing, Core Systems Division at Ascend. "We not only lead the
market in port density and cost per port, but also add significant
value-add such as Quality of Service (QoS) for differentiated
services."
Ascend is the only vendor to provide carrier-class Frame Relay
WAN switching that delivers the density, scalability and management
features required by service providers to bring Frame Relay services
to corporate customers. The company has a history of providing
innovative Frame Relay solutions to service providers. Ascend was
the first vendor to deliver production-ready Frame Relay-to-ATM
interworking more than two years ago. Ascend was also the first to
deliver high-speed Frame Relay (at 45 Mbps) and Switched Virtual
Circuits (SVCs) for Frame Relay. The company also announced and
delivered QoS for Frame Relay with class of service capability
through its Priority Frame technology.
Ascend is the only vendor to provide end-to-end network and
service management and provisioning for multiservice Frame Relay,
ATM, and IP environments through its Navis family of network
management products. With the Navis family of products, service
providers gain increased control and reduced operations and
provisioning costs and new sources of revenue.
Channelized DS 3/1/0 Module
In response to continued strong demand for DS0 connections,
Ascend is introducing a channelized DS3 module with channelization
down to the DS0 level, which offers twice the density of competitive
products and the lowest price per port. A single module can support
28 DS1 channels or 672 DS0 channels, or a combination of both. As
with all B-STDX modules the new Ascend DS 3/1/0 module supports both
Frame Relay and IP services.
"Our service provider customers are always looking for
higher-density solutions, and Ascend has consistently led the
industry in delivering higher port densities and lower costs," said
Hassan Ahmed, vice president of engineering, Core Systems Division at
Ascend. "We are also the only vendor to deliver the network
management tools that help service providers automate the
configuration and provisioning challenges that come with these
high-density solutions."
Ascend's automated NavisXtend Provisioning Server can reduce the
provisioning time for a DS0 or DS1 circuit from 10 minutes to 5
seconds. The provisioning server is linked into the service
provider's existing order entry systems, creating an integrated
operations solution.
12 Port E1 Module
Responding to the growing demand for Frame Relay services
internationally, Ascend is introducing a 12 port E1 module that
offers three times the density of existing E1 Frame Relay solutions.
Like the DS 3/1/0 module, the 12 port E1 module is a multiservice
solution that supports Frame Relay and IP, and has a distributed
processing architecture to scale processing and port density
simultaneously. This module supports ML-PPP software, which allows
service providers to bond multiple E1 lines, creating an additional
high-speed access alternative to expensive E3 circuits.
Frame Relay-to-ATM Interworking Modules
Ascend is introducing its second-generation solution with two new
ATM modules: The DS3/E3 Cell Switching Module and OC-3/STM-1
Interworking Unit (IWU).
By offering Frame Relay-to-ATM connections at up to OC-3 speeds,
Ascend is addressing the requirement to scale backbone capacity for
Frame Relay networks. The two modules enable service providers to
provide both network interworking (connecting Frame Relay devices
over an ATM backbone) and service interworking (connecting a Frame
Relay device to an ATM device). Service Interworking allows
enterprise customers to migrate their corporate headquarters to high
capacity ATM while retaining cost-effective Frame Relay at remote
offices.
Pricing and Availability
The Channelized DS 3/1/0 module will be available in Q1, '98;
with a price per port of approximately $100 (U.S.). The 12 port E1
module is available immediately for $24,000 (U.S. list). The DS3/E3
Cell Switching Module and OC-3/STM-1 Modules are both available
immediately and are priced at $33,000 and $35,000 respectively (U.S.
list).
About Ascend Communications
Ascend Communications, Inc. develops, manufactures and sells
wide area networking solutions for telecommunications carriers,
Internet service providers and corporate customers worldwide. For
more information about Ascend and its products, please visit the
Ascend web site at www.ascend.com, or e-mail info@ascend.com .
Ascend is headquartered at One Ascend Plaza, 1701 Harbor Bay
Parkway, Alameda, Calif., 94502. Phone 800/ASCEND4;
Fax 510/747-2300.
--30--blm/sf*
CONTACT: Gallagher PR
Shannon Malliet, 510/747-2254
smalliet@ascend.com
or
Ascend Communications, Inc.
Lucia F. Graziano, 978/952-1291
lucia_graziano@ascend.com
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