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

To: djane who wrote (45963)	5/4/1998 1:10:00 AM
From: Jack Colton	Respond to of 61433

I'm Baaaaaccckk. That's bawk in chick-a-lick. As for all of this talk one way and the other on the acquisition of ASND, all I can say is: While driving down the road a motorist saw a roadside stand which had a fortune teller sitting under an umbrella. She was just sitting there smiling and laughing. The motorist passed on by and went a couple of miles on down the road. All of a sudden he spun his car around and sped back toward the fortune teller. As he got closer to the still laughing fortune teller he began to slow down. He pulled up next to the woman and jumped out of his car and suddenly began slapping and beating her. A policeman passing by stopped and wrestled the man to the ground. After cuffing the man he stood him up and asked him, "What do you think you're doing?" The man replied, ... "Well, I've always wanted to strike a happy medium." Maybe the same goes for merger discussionists. jack

To: djane who wrote (45963)	5/4/1998 1:27:00 AM
From: djane	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 61433

MCI Moves Closer To An All-Optical Network (05/01/98; 6:03 p.m. ET) By Kate Gerwig, InternetWeek techweb.com A mathematical theory first set forth in 1834 is helping MCI move closer to its goal of running an all-optical network. Every theory has its time, and after 164 years, this one finally found its first real-world application. Using Soliton wave division multiplexing (WDM) technology developed by Pirelli Cables and Systems, MCI recently completed a two-month network trial that sent data three times as far as it can travel today without being reshaped, then sent again by electrical regeneration equipment. Rather than sending light pulses 300 kilometers before having to reshape them, MCI sent single streams of 10-Gbps data traffic more than 900 kilometers. The relevance? Longer-traveling wavelengths reduce the amount of electrical equipment needed to send data long distances. That translates to lower operating costs for providers and increased network reliability for customers. "This is a fundamentally new approach to building optical transmission systems that we think has a lot of potential," said Jack Wimmer, MCI's executive director of network technology and planning. "Using dense wavelength division multiplexing technology, we have to put a separate electrical regenerator on each wavelength. Any time I can avoid putting those in the network, I've taken out a very significant cost element." Customers wouldn't necessarily choose MCI for its Soliton technology, Wimmer said, but they might choose MCI because the technology will improve network performance, allow providers to add capacity more quickly, and improve quality of service because of increased bandwidth availability. "Anything that reduces the cost of networking and at the same time allows for the utilization of WDM is a good thing. If MCI can do something like this, hopefully cost reductions will be passed along to their customers," said TeleChoice analyst Deb Mielke. MCI worked with the Italy-based Pirelli to get an engineering version of Soliton ready for a trial. The technology will not be ready for commercial deployment for approximately 18 to 24 months, Wimmer said. MCI conducted its trial in January and February on a Chicago to St. Louis route that is not yet used to carry customer traffic. "We will be very aggressive in deploying it," Wimmer said. "We wanted to take Soliton out of the conceptual stage and start to learn what it really takes to engineer these systems. They're not plug and play. That's why we'll be able to leverage the technology sooner than some others." Related Stories: IBM Will Become First V.90 ISP In The United States WorldCom And MCI Will Not Dominate The Net Companies Tap Contingency Plans as AT&T's Frame Relay Network Crashes For more communications news ... Stock Quotes Enter ticker symbol: Trade stocks with Datek Top Stories Earnings News Holds Tech Stocks Down Adaptec Falls On Earnings Disappointment Open Market Buys Vendor Of Store-Building Software Investors Chasing Too Few Net Stocks Electronic Design Automation Vendors Get Sniffles From Asian Flu LAN Market's Old Guard Faces Competition Print this story Send as e-mail =See our Tech Encyclopedia for more info.

To: djane who wrote (45963)	5/4/1998 1:38:00 AM
From: djane	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 61433

5/4/98 Barron's article by Savitz. Very bullish on ASND/CSCO. interactive.wsj.com The theme is that portfolio managers are switching from PC, semi, Internet and software stocks to networkers and communications plays. Lupatkin (H&Q research director) is keen on CSCO, ASND, AFCI and PMCS. The author heard "serious buzzing" at the H&Q conference about presentations by Schmidt (Novell), Ejabat from Ascend, and Benhamou from 3Com.

To: djane who wrote (45963)	5/4/1998 1:50:00 AM
From: djane	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 61433

Intel, Microsoft, cable giants to promote cable modems By Jim Davis Staff Writer, CNET NEWS.COM May 3, 1998, 7:00 a.m. PT news.com Intel and Microsoft, which recently formed a group touting high-speed Internet access through the use of DSL (digital subscriber line) technology, are set to join forces tomorrow with companies such as Tele-Communications, Incorporated and Time Warner to promote even faster Internet access through cable service providers. Computer and cable industry heavyweights will form the Cable Broadband Forum (CBF), a non-profit corporation that will work to "increase public awareness" of cable technologies. Initially the group will focus on cable modems, and later digital TV set-top boxes. "Our objective is to raise awareness that [Internet service via cable companies] is in the market today and not a developing technology," said Tom Cullen, vice president of Internet services for MediaOne and chairman of the CBF. The CBF said that there already 200,000 customers with high-speed Net access from cable operators, and that revenue to operators will triple by the end of 1998, based on figures from market research firm Kinetic Strategies. In January, Intel, Microsoft, Compaq, and a consortium of telephone providers detailed a plan for installing another high-speed Net access technology, DSL, through the "Universal ADSL Working Group (UAWG). (Compaq is not currently a member of the CBF). Intel and Microsoft's endorsement of Internet services over cable as well as via DSL technology is merely pragmatic. Internet access is a key factor that is spurring computer sales, and both companies want to make multi-megabit access to the Internet possible in order to keep sales rolling. However, the easy-to-install version of DSL that Intel and Microsoft are hoping for isn't ready yet. Cable vendors, by contrast, have basically ironed out the technological standards needed to make the various pieces of equipment speak with each other--a key factor that will enable consumers to one day purchase equipment at a lower cost than currently possible. "Microsoft and Intel are relatively agnostic today about whether someone's connection is over coaxial cable or copper," Cullen acknowledged. But Cullen thinks that that over time, cable will come to be viewed as the preferred platform for high-speed access because it could offer higher access speeds than competing DSL technologies. Using a cable modem, a customer could download data at a maximum of 30 mbps (megabits per second). Although the speed slows depending on how many subscribers are using the service concurrently, it will remain faster than the 1.5-mbps pace promised by the easy-to-install DSL "Lite," as it is called. And, even at that rate, users would download data around 30 times faster than can be delivered through 56-kbps modem technology. But while cable access technology is available in a growing number of markets, it is not available in all regions. Part of the CBF's goal is to conduct an "education program is to tell people what our deployment plans are," Cullen notes. Also, cable operators are going to have to invest millions over the next few years to upgrade their systems to be able to carry two-way Internet traffic. Although the telephone giants face their own investment requirements, cable companies may have to invest more and may not have the same access to capital, according to analysts.