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

To: djane who wrote (51722)	8/6/1998 11:27:00 AM
From: gbh	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 61433

djane, isn't AOL a big COMS shop for RAC equipment?

To: djane who wrote (51722)	8/6/1998 11:28:00 AM
From: gbh	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 61433

SouthNet Telecomm Services, Inc. Chooses Ascend as Voice-over-IP Provider Nationwide Rollout of IP-based Voice Services Will Be One of the Country's Largest to Date ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 6, 1998--Ascend Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASND - news), a leader in wide area networking (WAN) solutions for providers and users of the public network, today announced that SouthNet TeleComm Services (STS) Inc., a leading ISP and Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) has chosen Ascend's MultiVoice(TM) for the MAX to roll out IP-based voice service nationwide. Based on STS's implementation plans, this will be one of the first and largest deployment of intra-city, intra-state, interstate, and international phone-to-phone and PC-to-phone IP-based voice services network to date. SouthNet Telecomm Services has selected Ascend's complete, fully International Telecommunications Union (ITU) H.323-compliant Voice-over-IP (VoIP) solution, including MultiVoice DSP cards running on Ascend MAX WAN Access Switches, and the MultiVoice Access Manager, which manages telephone-to-IP address translation, billing and other functions. After thorough evaluation of competitive offerings, STS chose the Ascend solution because it offered the best combination of features. ''For STS, IP telephony is a strategic technology so our choice of a partner was crucial,'' said Bob Morris, STS Vice President of Operations. ''We did a thorough review of the available offerings, and at the end it was clear the MultiVoice for the MAX was far superior to anything else on the market. ''STS required a product that offered ''toll quality'' calling to meet users expectations, and the Ascend solution, combined with a frame relay network, fulfilled the requirement. The product's scalability, combined with the fact that it is deployable on a tried-and-tested MAX platform made the decision relatively easy.'' Aggressive Implementation Plans STS is taking a novel approach to deploying IP telephony in its network. Through a series of resale agreements with local telecommunications suppliers in key markets, STS is able to deploy IP-based voice services cost-effectively. The company will wholesale Internet dial-access ports to local Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to partially offset the costs of deploying IP telephony, then will offer the IP-based voice services for resale by local CLECs and other resellers, including schools and other fund raising organizations, in each major market. The STS roll out of IP-based voice services is on an aggressive schedule, with plans to complete more than 100 US and international cities by the end of 1998. The company plans an IPO while adding additional cities next year for total coverage of 250 US and international cities by the end of 1999. ''We are very excited to be partnering with such a visionary company in their rollout of IP-based voice services,'' said Roger Boyce, vice president and general manager of Ascend's Enterprise Access Business Unit. ''We believe that MultiVoice for the MAX provides the best combination of functionality and scalability, and STS clearly saw this when they made their choice. We look forward to working with them to help them roll out this leading-edge service.'' Award-winning Solution MultiVoice for the MAX was recently given a Market Engineering award by industry analyst Frost & Sullivan. The award recognized Ascend's innovative strategy: the product is part of Ascend's multi-phase voice strategy, and makes use of Ascend's leading carrier-class infrastructure solutions to guarantee toll-quality voice across a service provider's network. About SouthNet TeleComm Services (STS) STS, one of the pioneers in Voice IP Networks, offers complete wholesale solutions for resellers and other fund raising organizations. With lucrative and simple wholesale plans for both Voice IP, Internet access, and all network needs, STS provides resellers the opportunity to participate in the projected $102 billion voice and IP fax industry, without the costly equipment or network expense.