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To: Jeff Jordan who wrote (31802)	1/22/1998 10:46:00 PM
From: Gary Korn	Respond to of 61433

BW0360 JAN 22,1998 17:19 PACIFIC 20:19 EASTERN ( BW)(ALCATEL)(ALA) Alcatel and US West Deploy World's Most Sophisticated Corporate Sonet Ring Network for Microsoft Business Editors RICHARDSON, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 19, 1998--US West has installed high-capacity Alcatel telecommunications equipment to create the world's most sophisticated corporate ring network for Microsoft's campus facilities in and around its Redmond, Washington headquarters. Alcatel is providing ten nodes of its Alcatel 1648 SM SONET (synchronous optical network) multiplexers in a bi-directional line-switched ring (BLSR) configuration -- the most advanced architecture for traffic protection and service restoration. Microsoft is using the Alcatel 1648 SM as the main transport "engine" of its backbone network. The 1648 SM will increase network bandwidth, allowing Microsoft to consolidate its voluminous data, voice and video traffic. Microsoft intends to migrate the network to accommodate centralized bandwidth management of both synchronous and asynchronous transfer mode (ATM -- the optimum method for Internet traffic) payloads. For this project, US West is deploying the Alcatel 1648 SM equipment as three BLSRs connected via Alcatel 1631 SX and 1633 SX wideband and broadband, respectively, cross connects. US West installed the cross connects about two years ago to provide critical bandwidth management and performance monitoring tasks. The rings will be installed initially as three independent rings, with the cross connects used to "interlock" the rings. The tandem of Alcatel multiplexer and cross connect technology provides Microsoft with a number of growth options for the future. US West is performing network engineering and project coordination. Alcatel also is providing training, installation and network testing support, which includes a three-node 1648 SM lab system installed at Microsoft last year. The Alcatel 1648 SM OC-48 line rate transport system supports electrical, SONET (up to OC-12 rate), and SDH (synchronous digital hierarchy) interfaces and all industry-standard configurations from a single hardware platform, including: terminal, add/drop multiplexer, repeater, unidirectional ring, four-fiber bidirectional ring and optical hub. To eliminate the need for back-to-back terminals, carriers can configure the Alcatel 1648 SM as a true linear add/drop multiplexer and upgrade it later to a four-fiber, bidirectional line-switched ring -- the industry's most-reliable and protected ring architecture -- with no hardware changes and no service impact. Alcatel, the Telecom segment of Alcatel Alsthom, designs, manufactures, and markets complete telecommunications systems. Activities include fixed switching networks, transmission systems, access systems, mobile communications infrastructure, business networking, submarine cable networks, as well as radiocommunications, space, and defense systems. With operations in over 130 countries, Alcatel is a leading-edge supplier in the majority of its businesses. In 1996, these activities registered total sales of FF 71 billion ($13.65 billion). Alcatel Alsthom trades on the Bourse de Paris and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: ALA). Visit Alcatel via the web at: www.alcatel.com . --30--JT/da* CONTACT: Alcatel, Richardson Michael Newsom, 972/996-7896 michael-newsom@aud.alcatel.com or Anne Guimard, 33.1 40 76 13 93 anne.guimard@ahqps.alcatel.fr or Charlotte Laurent-Ottomane, 33.1 40 76 13 30 33.1 40 76 14 05 (FAX) ottomane@ahqps.alcatel.fr or Barrington Lloyd International +44 (0) 1799 506 187 barry.lloyd@bli.co.uk KEYWORD: TEXAS INDUSTRY KEYWORD: COMED COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS TELECOMMUNICATIONS INTERACTIVE/MULTIMEDIA/INTERNET