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

To: djane who wrote (50218)	7/20/1998 5:06:00 AM
From: djane	Respond to of 61433

eFusion's Ajit Pendse says Net telephony can link people to PCs [ASND partner] infoworld.com July 20, 1998 By Laura Kujubu InfoWorld Electric Internet telephony is gradually becoming more than just hype in the industry, as companies such as applications gateway provider eFusion are creating ways to make it a realistic business solution. The company has produced enhanced Internet services application gateways to allow traditional phone services -- such as call-waiting and directory assistance -- using IP telephony, as well as Interactive Web Response systems for call centers. These systems allow Internet subscribers to use one phone to speak with a customer representative while browsing the company's Web page. InfoWorld reporter Laura Kujubu spoke with Ajit Pendse, president and CEO of eFusion, about what is in store for the maturing technology. InfoWorld: What do you think it is going to take to get businesses to adopt Internet telephony? Pendse: They're going to have to make some changes. For example, e-commerce: What we've forgotten in the world of electronic commerce is the people component. Internet telephony brings that component in, and I believe that it is people who can make the difference in creating or enabling Web transactions and can provide the comfort in doing business with a merchant. So what needs to be done to make Internet telephony applications mainstream is to blend them with existing ways of doing business. Make it as transparent as possible. And the only way I think transparency will happen is when application services are brought into the Internet overall. We still need to change our thought processes a little bit. Voice over IP is not about bypassing the telephone company. Widespread adoption of IP telephony will be through the new applications, and when we do that, we really need to make sure that widespread adoption is enhanced or aided by simple, easy-to-use user interfaces. InfoWorld: What will be the migration path of IP telephony in the business world? Pendse: Right now, the first phase is what we call "push to talk" to a merchant. You're a Web-centric consumer, you push a button to talk, you then speak with a merchant. The next phase is when a customer is looking at an e-commerce site and speaks with an agent at the same time, because there's not enough information on the site. We understand from different sources that maybe as many as 70 percent of all e-commerce shopping carts get abandoned because there's not enough information on a Web site. So first, there's voice, and then voice and data collaboration. The third evolution of this phase -- or the third phase in applications -- would be for the telecommuter: allowing the remote user to get voice and data access transparently by being connected to the Internet. The next wave would be that the PBX we know today is going to be replaced by an IP PBX. And their main transport pipe will no longer be a PSTN [public switched telephone network]. InfoWorld: How are the Internet telephony issues of interoperability and quality of service going to be addressed? Pendse: We see this market evolving in stages: small trials and lab evaluations, then moving into market trials and then market deployment. And some of the early players are now in market trials. When it comes to market deployment, all vendors will make their hardware interoperate at the H.323 standard level, and I think there is a move in the market to do that. As far as quality of service, businesses today have either their own private networks or virtual private networks that they get from their telco to connect multiple business location [lines], called data lines or tie lines. Those tie lines are going to be replaced by big IP pipes going from their PBX or their LAN into some large carrier's network. That large carrier's network is going to be engineered for quality of service. So what we need to do is differentiate between what can happen in a large engineered IP-based network, as opposed to quality of service on the broad Internet, which nobody has any control of. We think businesses will migrate to carriers with these large engineered backbones that provide that quality of service. We already see that happening with companies such as Qwest and, hopefully, Level 3, as it builds its network. And we'll also see some alliances taking place to feed traffic into that network. InfoWorld: What are some Internet telephony applications of the future? Pendse: For example, when you get a call at home or at work, you can put one call on hold, take the other call, or bridge the two calls. Those types of applications are missing in IP telephony. Another example is, for instance, you are working from home and you could be logged in to your corporate network over a DSL [Digital Subscriber Line] connection and somebody calls you through your PBX. What happens today is, you're not at your desk and your voice mail takes a message for you. But imagine if there was an application server someplace that knew the call was intended for you, then transferred that call, worked that into an IP format, and presented it to you on your PC while you were doing work. You click on a button, and you accept the call. And you can talk with this person while you're online. These are the kinds of applications that we see developing over the long term. InfoWorld: Do you think DSL or cable is better suited for IP telephony? Pendse: The bottom line is that we, as consumers, have a lot to gain from either of these technologies. We believe cable modem and DSL access are all good. Our IP-based applications will work with any IP layer, regardless of the transport method. If we can make an Internet telephony call transport-independent and as transparent to the end-user as possible -- and still be able to provide new applications and new ways of doing business that mirror today's way of doing business, but do it more efficiently -- that would be Nirvana. InfoWorld: What do you think are the challenges in the future for IP telephony? Pendse: One area in which we think we can add value is in the area of wireless IP infrastructure. It's beginning to emerge, but there are not many players there. Another area where I think there is a large number of opportunities is in the area of packaging our applications with equipment from, for example, DSL companies. These are all areas of opportunities, and we're actively looking for alliances. InfoWorld: What do you see as the network of the future -- will that mean the elimination of the PSTN? Pendse: There are going to be components from the PSTN that we're going to bring over to the IP network. I don't see that tomorrow will mean the death of the PSTN. However, we do see IP networks dominating in the future; but in the meantime, a blending of the networks will continue. It's basically an ecosystem. The ecosystem has four components. One is end-user interfaces, such as a 10-digit keypad or a PC interface. The other is intelligence from the telephone network. For example, the telephone network has SS7 [Signaling System 7] signaling and other things, such as computer-telephony integration, which can manage calls in a call center. That's part of what we call the intelligence from the PSTN network. Then there is the IP infrastructure itself. And the fourth one is things such as operations, administration, management, provisioning, and billing -- all features that the PSTN knows well, unlike the IP network. So what we are trying to do with our applications is essentially glue all of this together to create intelligent applications that the IP network doesn't have today. And it's not a battle between IP infrastructure and the PSTN infrastructure. The benefits in each of those elements -- the end-user interface, the PSTN interfaces -- we've got to blend all of them to provide the simplest, cleanest usage model possible, and surrender it into electronic format. For an overview of recent InfoWorld Electric interviews, go to Interviews at a glance. Go to the Week's Top News Stories Please direct your comments to InfoWorld Deputy News Editor, Carolyn April Copyright c 1998 InfoWorld Media Group Inc. InfoWorld Electric is a member of IDG.net \| SiteMap \| Search \| PageOne \| Reader/Ad Services \| \| Enterprise Careers \| Opinions \| Test Center \| Features \| \| Forums \| Interviews \| InfoWorld Print \| InfoQuote \|

To: djane who wrote (50218)	7/20/1998 8:23:00 AM
From: Joseph Pareti	Respond to of 61433

i don't believe (and don't understand ) TA because it basically tells you to do what everybody else does. I like instead the notion that "the stock market doesn't exist " (The Warren Buffett way) cyberhaven.com if there was any money at all to be made with ASND that was 8 months ago at $22 when the world was dumping the stock with abandon. I was long there but didn't go any longer, that would have been the acid test for the real investor. Easy going now for the "analysts" that scream "strong buy " today. Why is p/e 50 a strong buy ? because csco is trading at 100 times earnings ? do I miss anything ?

To: djane who wrote (50218)	7/20/1998 11:54:00 AM
From: hitesh puri	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 61433

Very strong chance that ASND can zoom to 60's after breaking 52 week high of 55 3/4. Touched 55 today. What a turnaround for this company and stock. Glad we went to that share holder meeting. Mory has definitely turned from being a meek geek to a bolder CEO. -hitesh

To: djane who wrote (50218)	7/20/1998 12:55:00 PM
From: djane	Respond to of 61433

Good Canadian article on networking industry takeovers [ASND references] (via NN thread) Excerpts: "These providers of communications services are set to spend an estimated $380 billion U.S. over the next eight years to accommodate the fantastic growth in electronic traffic generated by the Internet. Indeed, France Telecom, Deutsche Telecom and Sprint Communications Corp. are all expected soon to reveal who they'll pick to build their new, high-speed networks." In addition, "the top ISP companies will be making decisions about their backbone switches over the next 12 to 18 months," he said." [I wonder if ASND will announce these contracts if landed...] Ottawa Citizen Monday 20 July 1998 Newbridge at the crossroads Industry consolidation makes high-tech firm a takeover target James Bagnall The Ottawa Citizen Newbridge Networks Corp. is heading into what promises to be the most crucial period of its 12-year history. The industry in which it operates is rapidly consolidating into a handful of giants, thus increasing the likelihood that Newbridge itself could be acquired in the near future. It's either that, or risk becoming a relatively small player in a universe of behemoths. For Ottawa-area residents used to thinking of Newbridge as a major global player, either prospect would likely come as a surprise. Newbridge, which makes high-speed data networking gear, can still thrive as a stand-alone company. Indeed, that remains the goal of its founder and chairman, Terence Matthews, who owns 21 per cent of the company. Ever since he founded Newbridge, Mr. Matthews has been a champion of the notion that home-grown firms can make it on the global stage. The Welsh-born entrepreneur has even used his personal venture capital firm, Celtic House International, to help fund regionally based startups that might otherwise have relied on foreign-based investors. Retaining Newbridge's status as a stand-alone company will mean fighting against the industry's growing trend toward corporate concentration. In the wake of last month's $9.1-billion U.S. purchase by Northern Telecom Ltd. of California-based Bay Networks Inc. -- the fourth major acquisition in the networking sector in the past two months alone -- Newbridge now finds itself occupying an increasingly lonely tier in its industry. Newbridge, along with Cabletron Systems Inc. of Rochester, New Hampshire, and Ascend Communications Inc. of Alameda, California, is one of a handful of networking firms that in the past year each generated revenues of between $1 billion U.S. and $1.4 billion U.S. In terms of sales, this group is now some distance from the industry's top tier, which is dominated by giants such as Lucent Technologies Inc. of Murray Hill, New Jersey, Cisco Systems Inc. of San Jose, California and Nortel. Their revenues ranged from $7.8 billion U.S. to $28.2 billion U.S. during the most recent four quarters. Size matters in this industry because its customers are among the world's biggest telephone companies, cable firms and Internet service providers. These providers of communications services are set to spend an estimated $380 billion U.S. over the next eight years to accommodate the fantastic growth in electronic traffic generated by the Internet. Indeed, France Telecom, Deutsche Telecom and Sprint Communications Corp. are all expected soon to reveal who they'll pick to build their new, high-speed networks. In adapting to the world of the Internet, they are contemplating revolutionary changes. Not surprisingly, they want every assurance that the firm that sells them these networks will be around for years to come. And size gives them a lot of comfort on this front. At first glance, Newbridge looks well placed to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. A good chunk of this spending -- anywhere from 25 per cent to 50 per cent -- could involve a technology known as asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), which happens to be Newbridge's specialty. And, for the past few years, Newbridge has held a clear global lead in this market, with a 34-per-cent share in 1997, according to California-based Dataquest Ltd. That's up from 28 per cent in 1996. "ATM is hot," Mr. Matthews said in a conference call last month following the release of his company's annual results. "The fourth quarter was the 10th straight quarter of record revenue for ATM products." For the past two years, Newbridge has also had a wide-ranging alliance for research and development and marketing with Munich-based technology giant Siemens AG. California-based 3Com Corp., a computer networking firm, joined the alliance last autumn. The company has long maintained that such a partnership easily has the same amount of heft as the industry's other giant players. However, Newbridge's position is not impregnable. For one thing, a significant portion of the spending on ATM gear to date reflects purchases by customers interested in testing and evaluating ATM equipment. Now, the sheer scale of the unfolding market has prompted new competitors -- such as Cisco, Nortel and Ascend -- to develop top-of-the-line ATM equipment of their own. It's also important to note that ATM is a packet switching technology (which means data is sent in the form of packets) that also includes frame relay. Sales of packet switches provide a broader measure of the strength of data networking companies. And this race is a close one. Lee Doyle, vice-president of International Data Corp., of Framingham, Massachusetts, says Newbridge retained its lead in 1997 with a 22-per-cent share of the global market in packet switches. But Cisco, with a 21-per-cent slice, and Nortel, at 19 per cent, were nipping at its heels. Newbridge's alliance with Siemens and 3Com is a departure from the industry's norm in that the three partners have not purchased significant equity in one another. A key question is whether the firms can continue to satisfy major buyers that the partnership will not one day dissolve. Indeed, one of the main reasons Nortel bought Bay Networks was to set aside any doubt about its long-term commitment. When asked earlier this month by LANTimes, a respected U.S. trade magazine, why he didn't form a partnership, Nortel CEO John Roth said: "Partnerships are not a good way to build long-term strategic plans. We don't want to build those types of dependencies on a company that might not always be our partner. "Also, partnerships do not have the same degree of urgency on both sides." The Siemens-Newbridge alliance has been a successful one. Newbridge relies on Siemens distribution channels to generate roughly 15 per cent of its annual sales. The two firms also do a considerable amount of joint development on ATM technology. However, Siemens' telecommunications group isn't considered to be a powerhouse in the U.S. market on the scale of Lucent or Cisco. And U.S. contracts are expected to account for a key portion of the early spending on data switching technology.[ASND should be in a strong position here.] If Newbridge decides it needs help to buttress its position in the U.S., one of the first signs could be a decision to re-negotiate its alliance with Siemens in favour of a strong U.S. player. This assumes, of course, that Siemens itself doesn't buy Newbridge. Tom Nolle, president of CIMI Corp., a U.S.-based consulting firm, believes such a move by the German colossus is unlikely. "It appears that Siemens has determined it is not going to acquire Newbridge and that its alliance with Newbridge will be re-negotiated," he says. Such a move would make Newbridge a more attractive acquisition target. Potential buyers have so far been reluctant to bid because it would be so difficult to untangle the joint arrangements for research and development and marketing between Siemens and Newbridge. A wild card in any takeover would be the reaction of Mr. Matthews. In a 1996 interview with the Citizen, the Newbridge chairman laid out what his response to a hostile takeover would be. "I have sufficient worth," he said, "that I'd set a building up across the road and clean out all (Newbridge's) engineering staff. And I have the ability to do it. (The acquirers) would end up with a very nice set of glass and brick buildings." However, if Mr. Matthews senses that Newbridge's stand-alone position is weakening its ability to land key sales, he may be forced to reconsider his independence. Neither Mr. Matthews nor company officials would comment for this article. Some analysts believe Newbridge already suffers from a low profile in the U.S. "We survey buyer attitudes on equipment makers,'' says Mr. Nolle. "Since last September, Newbridge has taken one of the biggest hits we've ever seen in the U.S. market.'' Mr. Nolle attributes this opinion to two main factors. First, he says, Newbridge lost some key U.S. marketing personnel following the early 1996 signing of the Siemens alliance. Second, he adds, Newbridge announced a wide-ranging marketing strategy last October known as Carrier Scale Internetworking but since then, it has not been very visible. Other analysts are more optimistic about Newbridge's long-term prospects. Michael Neiberg, a technology analyst with New York-based securities firm Furman Selz, recently upgraded Newbridge shares to a "buy'' based in part on the recent appointment of Alan Lutz as chief executive and the company's willingness to appoint three outsiders to the board of directors. "Newbridge has a lot of strength in products and distribution,'' he says, "but, for whatever reason, it just isn't being recognized (in the U.S.). Bringing in fresh blood is going to help.'' Certainly Mr. Lutz -- a former senior executive at Houston-based Compaq Computer Corp. and Mississauga-based Northern Telecom Ltd. -- is moving quickly to put his stamp on Newbridge. Among Mr. Lutz's favourite words these days is "accountability.'' He is sending the message that if Newbridge executives can't meet sales and production targets, then they'll be out the door. Raymond Keneipp, principal analyst for Current Analysis Inc., a Sterling, Virginia-based consulting firm, said one of Mr. Lutz's top priorities will be to sell data networking switches to U.S.-based Internet service providers. "Newbridge doesn't have a large presence in the ISP market today and the top ISP companies will be making decisions about their backbone switches over the next 12 to 18 months," he said. A higher U.S. profile would help Newbridge on this front. But it's also a two-edged sword because Newbridge would very quickly start showing up on the radar of its larger competitors. "ATM is absolutely essential for tomorrow's networks. It's here now and Newbridge can deliver it," says Francis McInerney, a telecommunications analyst with the New York-based consulting firm, North Rivers Ventures Inc. "This means Newbridge has value to another company and unquestionably makes them an acquisition target." It would be a pricey purchase. Newbridge's market value at the close of market Friday on the Toronto Stock Exchange was nearly $6 billion. And a bidding war would almost certainly drive the price much higher. Assuming Newbridge does come into play, who would be a logical buyer? Mr. Neiberg, the Furman Selz analyst, thinks Lucent is a possibility. "Lucent is looking for big switches of the sort Newbridge makes," he says. But Mr. Keneipp and Mr. Nolle are dubious. "Lucent already has a strong relationship with GDC and (Illinois-based) Tellabs Inc.," says Mr. Keneipp. "I also think they'll be building their own backbone ATM switches." [or buying ASND for the Cascade switches. Sorry, I couldn't resist...] Mr. Nolle notes: "I don't know why Lucent would pay $1 billion U.S. for Yurie Systems Inc. (an ATM switch maker bought by Lucent in May) then go out and buy Newbridge." [LAN switch maker...] His best guess for a Newbridge acquirer: Swedish telecommunications giant L.M. Ericsson. Another possibility, he adds, is a merger between Newbridge and 3Com. Would Mr. Matthews sell? Put it this way: If Newbridge starts to show signs this fall of winning some major business, it may find one of the industry's real heavyweights at its door -- sporting an acquisition offer rich enough that not even Mr. Matthews can refuse.

To: djane who wrote (50218)	7/20/1998 12:58:00 PM
From: djane	Respond to of 61433

LU P550 Cajun Switch announcement [LAN switch for campus backbone] Monday July 20, 8:29 am Eastern Time Company Press Release Lucent Technologies Announces Pricing, Availability of New Layer 3 Routing Functionality for P550 Cajun Switch Company Also Announces Price Reductions For All P550 Layer 2-Only Modules, And Introduces Two New Gigabit Ethernet Modules MARLBOROUGH, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 20-- Lucent Technologies today announced pricing and availability of its P550 Cajun Switch with Integrated Routing, consisting of a new set of multilayer (Layer 2 switching/Layer 3 routing) modules for the company's high-capacity, fault-tolerant, 10/100/1000 megabits per second (Mbps) Ethernet switch. At the same time, Lucent announced price reductions of up to 20 percent on its existing P550 Layer 2-only switching modules, driving the per-port prices of 10/100 Mbps Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet below $300 and $2,000, respectively, in certain configurations, and also introduced two new Gigabit Ethernet Layer 2 modules. The new Integrated Routing functionality for the P550 Cajun Switch delivers up to 18 million packets per second of scalable IP and IPX routing at wire speed, along with 45.76 gigabits per second of backplane switching capacity - all in the same highly-reliable, 7-slot, modular chassis. With two-to-three times the capacity of most other Ethernet switches, and hardware-based traffic filtering and prioritization, Lucent's P550 Cajun Switch allows network managers to deliver integrated switching and routing and more bandwidth than ever to growing local area networks and high-performing desktops. Designed specifically with the campus backbone in mind, Lucent's P550 Cajun Switch with Integrated Routing performs the same Layer 3 routing functions as legacy software-based routers, but at gigabit wire speed. The P550's ''no bottlenecks'' design directs internetwork traffic 10-100 times faster than these more expensive software-based offerings, and provides more scalability than other next-generation hardware-based routers. According to Michael Howard, founder and CEO of Infonetics Research, a San Jose, Calif.-based consulting firm, ''Because the P550 with Integrated Routing incorporates both Layer 2 and Layer 3 functionality in the same chassis, users get the high-performance and scalability of a 10/100/1000 megabits per second Ethernet switch, combined with the power of an IP/IPX router. Lucent's P550 Cajun Switch allows network managers to implement switching and routing in their campus LANs where they need it and when they need it in a cost-effective manner. Lucent has raised the competitive bar in this market segment with this new Layer 3 functionality and the price reductions of its existing Layer 2 modules.'' ''The response we have received to date from our Layer 3 beta customers has been exceptional,'' said Menachem E. Abraham, president of Lucent's Enterprise Infrastructure Products Group. ''We are delivering an extremely competitive product to the market with a robust set of features and uncompromised reliability, and at the same time offering users wire-speed 10/100 routing ports that break the $500 per port barrier. We feel the switching and routing capabilities of the P550 Cajun Switch puts Lucent squarely in a leadership position as the next-generation campus LANs are designed and built,'' he asserted. The P550 has played a key role in the network of one of America's most visible and premier sports and entertainment arenas the United Center in Chicago which was one of the beta test locations for the P550 Cajun Switch with Integrated Routing. Home of the six-time National Basketball Association's champion Chicago Bulls and the National Hockey League's Chicago Blackhawks, the United Center also hosts numerous concerts, ice shows and other family events annually. According to Joseph A. Inzerillo, the United Center's technical director, ''Layer 3 switching is the largest fundamental change to networking since 100 megabits-per-second Ethernet, and the Lucent implementation is simply second to none. It is easy to forget how revolutionary a product the Cajun Switch is because the interface is so friendly and intuitive that it is second nature to configure. The purchasing decision is simple. This product does what no other can at incredible speeds no contest.'' Product Details Each P550 Cajun Switch accepts new, multilayer (Layer 2/Layer 3) modules that add 1.5 million or 3 million packets per second of routing capability for a total of up to 18 million packets per second. These packets cross an undersubscribed crossbar switching fabric designed to handle as much traffic as users can deliver, unlike some competing systems which are oversubscribed, resulting in packet loss or delay. The P550's new ASIC-based Packet Routing Engine performs classic packet-by-packet routing without resorting to proprietary schemes, making it completely interoperable with existing standards-based installations. The new multilayer modules are also completely compatible with the P550's existing Layer 2-only modules, which lets users tailor the precise proportions of routing and switching performance they require. In addition to a new multilayer Supervisor Module, users can mix-and-match five new multilay er media modules for the P550 Cajun Switch with Integrated Routing that can provide up to 12 Gigabit Ethernet ports, 60 fiber Fast Ethernet ports or 72 10/100 Ethernet ports in a single P550 chassis. The P550 lets managers control network traffic by performing, in hardware, policy IP filtering and prioritization based on source and/or destination IP address or subnet, Layer 4 TCP/UDP port number (or choice of other Layer 4 protocol), and IPX filtering and prioritization based on service name, service type, network numbers and MAC address of the sender. The P550 also delivers full Quality of Service (QoS) support for multimedia through Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP). The P550 Cajun Switch with Integrated Routing supports the full suite of IP protocols for unicast (OSPF, RIP and RIP2) and multicast (IGMP, DVMRP, PIM and MOSPF), plus IPX (RIP) at no extra charge. Web-Based Network Management The P550's capacity, scalability and fault tolerance are complemented by its comprehensive, Web-based network management system that provides point-and-click configuration of the Cajun Switch's extensive feature set quickly and easily from any frames-capable Web browser. Additionally, a highly-functional Command Line Interface is available through the P550's front panel console port, or in-band using Telnet. NetCare Services The P550 Cajun Switch with Integrated Routing is supported by Lucent's NetCare Services organization, a global team of service and support professionals who provide a broad set of consulting, integration, management and maintenance services for multivendor data and video networks, voice systems and networks and call centers. Integrated Routing Availability and Pricing The P550's new multilayer supervisor and media modules are available now with volume shipments scheduled to commence within 30 days at the following North American list prices: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- MODEL # DESCRIPTION PRICE ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- P5500R-SW P550 Cajun Switch w/ Integrated Routing (includes 7-slot chassis, multilayer Supervisor Module and one 400W power supply) $14,950 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- M5502R-1000SX-F 2-Port Gigabit Ethernet Module w/ Integrated Routing (850nM) $ 5,750 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- M5502R-1000LX-F 2-Port Gigabit Ethernet Module w/ Integrated Routing (1300nM) $ 7,950 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- M5502R-1000SLX-F 2-Port Long-Distance Gigabit Ethernet Module w/ Integrated Routing (10Km) $ 8,950 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- M5510R-100FX 10-Port Fiber Fast Ethernet Module w/ Integrated Routing $ 9,950 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- M5512R-100TX 12-Port 10/100 Ethernet Module w/ Integrated Routing $ 5,550 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Layer 2-Only Module Price Reductions As part of today's announcement, Lucent also disclosed it has reduced the prices of its Layer 2-only modules, and introduced two new Gigabit Ethernet Layer 2 modules: a four-port, long-wavelength card and a four-port, long-distance module. "Our pricing in this area has been very competitive from day one," Abraham observed, "and we feel these new price reductions make our already superior price/performance even more compelling for customers." The P550's new Layer 2 prices are indicated below. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- MODEL # DESCRIPTION OLD PRICE NEW PRICE % CHANGE ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- M5502-1000SX-F 2-Port Gigabit Ethernet Module (850nM) $4,950 $ 4,450 - 10% ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- M5502-1000LX-F 2-Port Gigabit Ethernet Module (1300nM) $7,195 $ 6,650 - 8% ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- M5502-1000SLX-F 2-Port Long-Distance Gigabit Ethernet Module (10Km) $8,150 $ 7,650 - 6% ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- M5504-1000SX-F 4-Port Gigabit Ethernet Module (850nM) $8,995 $ 7,950 - 12% ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- M5504-1000LX-F 4-Port Gigabit Ethernet Module (1300nM) New $ 11,950 N/A ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- M5504-1000SLX-F 4-Port Long-Distance Gigabit Ethernet Module (10Km) New $ 13,950 N/A ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- M5510-100FX 10-Port Fiber Fast Ethernet Module $9,950 $ 7,950 - 20% ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- M5520-100TX 20-Port 10/100 Ethernet Module $6,950 $ 5,950 - 14% ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, N.J., designs, builds and delivers a wide range of public and private networks, communications systems and software, data networking systems, business telephone systems and microelectronic components. Bell Labs is the research and development arm for the company. More information about Lucent Technologies is available on the company's Web site at: www.lucent.com Contact: Lucent Technologies John H. Ricciardone, 508/303-8885 ext 234 jricciardone@lucent.com or Stephen Loudermilk, 908/953-7514 sloudermilk@lucent.com More Quotes and News: Lucent Technologies Inc (NYSE:LU - news) Related News Categories: computers, networking, telecom Help Copyright c 1998 Business Wire. All rights reserved. All the news releases provided by Business Wire are copyrighted. Any forms of copying other than an individual user's personal reference without express written permission is prohibited. Further distribution of these materials is strictly forbidden, including but not limited to, posting, emailing, faxing, archiving ina public database, redistributing via a computer network or in a printed form. See our Important Disclaimers and Legal Information. Questions or Comments?