ASND is not a frame relay candidate, they hardly do anything with frame relay. But someone like a Bay Networks would be a good candidate. SURELY YOU JEST !!
Press Release
Contact:
Lucy Graziano Shannon Malliet
Ascend Communications, Inc. Gallagher PR
(508) 952-1291 (510) 747-2254
lucy.graziano@ascend.com smalliet@ascend.com
ASCEND ANNOUNCES NEW MODULES OFFERING
BREAKTHROUGH CAPABILITIES FOR
CARRIER-CLASS FRAME RELAY SWITCHES
Company takes worldwide leadership position in multi-billion dollar
Frame Relay market, according to four leading industry analyst
groups
ALAMEDA, Calif., December 8, 1997 -- 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
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
(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.
Availability
The Channelized DS 3/1/0 module will be available in Q1, '98. The 12 port
E1 module is available immediately. The DS3/E3 Cell Switching Module and
OC-3/STM-1 Modules are both available immediately.
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
ascend.com, or e-mail info@ascend.com.
Ascend is headquartered at One Ascend Plaza
1701 Harbor Bay Parkway
Alameda, California 94502
Phone: 800/ASCEND4
Fax: 510/814-2300
E-mail: info@ascend.com
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