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Technology Stocks : Ascend Communications-News Only!!! (ASND) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jim bender who wrote (811)	12/31/1997 8:22:00 AM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Respond to of 1629

Dataquest Reports Ascend Soared Ahead of Competitors to Lead the Frame Relay Market in 1996; Dataquest Projects That Ascend Will Maintain Lead Going Forward Business Wire - December 31, 1997 08:13 %ASCEND-COMMUNICATIONS ASND %CALIFORNIA %COMPUTERS %ELECTRONICS %COMED %TELECOMMUNICATIONS %INTERACTIVE %MULTIMEDIA %INTERNET %PRODUCT V%BW P%BW ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 31, 1997-- Ascend Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASND) today announced that San Jose, Calif. based market research firm, Dataquest, has released the year-end statistics for the 1996 WAN networking market, which shows that Ascend has taken the number one spot in Frame Relay sales worldwide. The company moved ahead of the competition, growing 148 percent in revenue from sales of frame relay equipment over 1995, while the closest competitor lost ground. Ascend ended 1996 as the leader in the Frame Relay market with a 27.4 percent share of the market. In North America alone, Ascend grew 157.5 percent over 1995 with 39.2 percent marketshare of the North American Frame Relay market. Dataquest stated that they expect Ascend to maintain its market leadership going forward. Dataquest forecasts that the backbone Frame Relay equipment market will continue its growth from $1.1 billion in 1996 to $2.2 billion in 2001. The research firm also projects that multiservice platforms will be in widespread use by the end of the decade. According to the report, "Service providers are beginning to evolve from standalone frame relay switching to ATM-based multiservice platforms that can handle large-scale frame relay (and other services) in addition to ATM." "Ascend continues to lead the frame relay market in innovation and port density as well as lowest cost per port. Their leadership in the frame relay market seems firmly established and they are strong contenders in the ATM backbone market with the CBX 550 and 500 and the ATM access market with the SA100, SA600, and SA1200 ATM access concentrator products. "Ascend offers carriers a complete ATM and frame relay product line with the potential to provide end-to-end Quality of Service." said George Hunt, Director and Principal Analyst at Dataquest. Ascend recently announced four new modules for its market leading B-STDX Frame Relay WAN switches that continue to build on the company's reputation for delivering innovative Frame Relay WAN switching solutions. The new Channelized DS 3/1/0 Module offers the highest density DS0 and DS1 solution (672 DS0 channels on a single module), and multiservice Frame Relay and IP support (IP Navigator) on the same hardware. The new 12 Port E1 module addresses the international market for Frame Relay services with a high-density, multiservice solution. Ascend also introduced its second generation Frame Relay-to-ATM Interworking products with two new modules that offer Frame Relay-to-ATM connections at up to OC-3/STM1 speeds. Since the introduction of its first Frame Relay WAN switch in 1992, Ascend has provided the industry with high-density solutions. "Ascend's market success is a reflection of its close working relationships with its customers and the company's commitment to delivering innovative products that meet its customer's needs," said Bob Sullebarger, Senior Manager, Product Marketing, Core Systems Division at Ascend. "We were one of the first companies to recognize the value of a carrier-class Frame Relay WAN switching solution. We were also one of the first to deliver a production-ready Frame Relay-to-ATM interworking solution, one of the first to deliver high-speed Frame Relay, and one of the first to deliver both Switched Virtual Circuits and QoS for Frame Relay." 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. This release, other than historical financial information, may consist of forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements may differ materially from actual future events or results. For instance, factors which could cause results to differ from future events include the rate of development of new and enhanced technology and market acceptance and the timely introduction, competitive pricing actions and marketing programs, among others. Readers are referred to the documents filed by Ascend Communications with the S.E.C., specifically the most recent reports on forms 10-K and 10-Q, which identify important risk factors which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. CONTACT: Ascend Communications, Inc. Lucia F. Graziano, 978/952-1291 lucia_graziano@ascend.com or Gallagher PR Shannon Malliet, 510/747-2254 smalliet@ascend.com

To: jim bender who wrote (811)	12/31/1997 8:31:00 PM
From: Maverick	Respond to of 1629

Bill Gates' New Year's predictions Microsoft chairman Bill Gates expects 1998 to be a year of faster Net access. He expects DSL, Digital Subscriber Line, to become more widely available. DSL allows faster data transmission across plain old telephone lines. It's already in use in Singapore, where access speeds are dozens of times faster than using convention modems, Gates said in his latest column in The New York Times. He says that while DSL is in trial in the U.S., it won't be until this time next year that the service will be available to consumers. Among his predictions for the new year are two repeated from last year: that videoconferencing and Net meetings will become important, and the total cost of owning a PC will fall sharply, again.

To: jim bender who wrote (811)	12/31/1997 9:08:00 PM
From: Maverick	Respond to of 1629

NTT to Launch xDSL Field Test in Feb. '98 December 30, 1997 (TOKYO) - NTT Corp. will field test digital subscriber lines (xDSL) from February to December 1998, company officials said. NTT will invite its general users and Internet service providers other than its own Open Communications Network service to participate in the field test as monitors. The company will provide them with high-speed Internet access of a maximum of 9Mbps. The xDSL is a modem technology that uses telephone copper wire for high-speed communications. Both asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) and symmetric digital subscriber line (SDSL) will be tested. With ADSL technology, the upstream and downstream speeds are asymmetrical, with some products' transmission speeds reaching about 9Mbps. The upstream and downstream speeds are symmetrical in SDSL technology, with a maximum transmission speed of 2Mbps each. An xDSL modem set up at a user's home and an NTT station will enable customers to use a copper wire cable as a high-speed access line. With the xDSL modem linked to a telephone set, users can also use the telephone and access the Internet at the same time. NTT has been testing xDSL at its research laboratory. The test results has so far proved: (1) integrated services digital network lines affect and slow the transmission speed of an ADSL line, (2) users located further away from NTT stations cannot communicate via an xDSL line, and (3) the transmission speed is influenced by diameter, age and insulation of a telephone cable. "We would like to find out what conditions we should set on an xDSL line to offer it as a commercial service and how users will evaluate it, and then decide if we will commercialize the service or not," said Masamichi Sakamoto, senior manager of NTT"s network strategy planning department. The field test will cover Tokyo's 23 wards, including Kunitachi and Chofu in Tokyo, Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, Matsudo and Abiko in Chiba Prefecture, Tsukuba in Ibaraki Prefecture and Osaka.

To: jim bender who wrote (811)	12/31/1997 9:10:00 PM
From: Maverick	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1629

NTT field tests xDSL, Part ii The test areas were selected to have a variety of diameters and ages of telephone cables laid in those wards and cities to collect data taken in various environments. The degrees to which ISDN lines are clustered in the selected wards and cities also vary. The xDSL modems using several methods from several manufacturers will be used for the test. The two types of xDSL technology, carrierless amplitude/phase modulation and discrete multi tone, will be both tested. NTT also is considering testing the transmission of asynchronous transfer mode data over an ADSL line. The access fee for xDSL will be free during the field test. For the test, NTT will lend xDSL modems to users. The access fee for the Internet connection will be set by Internet service providers including NTT. The test fee is likely to be lower than the regular fee. Information such as Internet connection fees for the test, choices of speeds and providers in each ward and city is likely to be disclosed in mid January 1998.