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

To: djane who wrote (52141)	8/14/1998 4:13:00 PM
From: Mighty Mizzou	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 61433

Your nimbleness is really paying off! I chickened out of the ASND margin buy and went for my other favorite PSINet (3 shares of PSIX for the price of one ASND). And I got it at 18! That made me feel much better going into the weekend. I just cannot figure out why top internet networkers are getting killed this month. I'm talking secure companies with solid earnings growth and enourmous potential, not speculative trash like Geocities...

To: djane who wrote (52141)	8/14/1998 5:04:00 PM
From: djane	Read Replies (5) \| Respond to of 61433

8/3/98 Lehman positive report on ASND/SRA. lehman.com

To: djane who wrote (52141)	8/14/1998 5:07:00 PM
From: djane	Respond to of 61433

BT, AT&T Venture Has No Plans Yet For Business in Japan: BT Japan nikkeibp.asiabiztech.com August 6, 1998 (TOKYO) -- Koshiro Kitazato, representative director and chairman of BT Japan, said that the joint-venture agreement reached by British Telecommunications Plc and AT&T Corp. on July 26 will set the stage for a major turning point in the fast-expanding telecommunications business. Speaking with Asia BizTech, Kitazato said no plans have been worked out on the joint venture's business activities in Japan. Kitazato was asked about the reason that the telecom giants in Britain and the United States agreed to set up a joint venture. He replied that AT&T's international telecom business has yet to grow sufficiently, while BT wanted to gain a foothold in the U.S. market and take advantage of America's largest telecom firm's operation bases and its capabilities to develop new products. According to Kitazato, both BT and AT&T will separate their international business departments from their main operations, and will shift the departments to the joint venture. One year later, the joint venture will set up its main office in the United States and will hire about 5,000 people from all parts of the world, he said. Kitazato said the joint venture will provide a new and powerful international network service based on the Internet protocol. By making the most of the networks owned by the two telecom companies, the new venture will handle massive volumes of data, or many times more than the combined volume handled by the parent companies, he said. The main data to be handled by the joint venture will be those related to telephone and electronic-commerce services, and the new firm will be a low-cost operator, he noted. Kitazato said many items have yet to be decided as concerns the business in Japan, including the name of the new company and its range of activities. He also said that the accord reached between the British and U.S. telecom giants will serve as a major turning point in the telecom industry. To survive the large-scale reform in the telecom sector, companies must depart from their traditional practices of forming alliances with firms in the same industrial group, or with affiliated firms. By this autumn, when the COM Japan trade show will be held, concrete plans on the new firm's business strategies and services may be worked out, Kitazato added. (BizTech Editorial Dept.)

To: djane who wrote (52141)	8/14/1998 5:11:00 PM
From: djane	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 61433

Japanese Firms Polarized On Positive, Negative Effects of IT Investment nikkeibp.asiabiztech.com August 10, 1998 (TOKYO) -- Japan's corporate community is suffering the effects of a worsening economy and problems in the financial system are hurting business prospects, and amid such an environment, companies are displaying different stances toward investments in information technology. Some companies are reducing their IT investments, but many are increasing their investments in information technology. Thus, a few varying trends are seen in corporate IT investment, according to Nikkei Computer's second survey on the "Status of Information Systems Utilization." Nikkei Computer conducted the survey among Japanese companies from late April through May. This year's survey targeted information system sections of 7,497 listed companies and over-the-counter companies. A survey form was sent to them in early May, and 2,061 valid responses were received by May 27, resulting in a response ratio of 27.5 percent. The largest number of responses came from the manufacturing industry, accounting for 33.0 percent, followed by the construction industry (23.0 percent) and the distribution industry (16.0 percent). Corporate IT Strategy Being Polarized Two trends are observed in corporate IT strategies in fiscal 1998 (April 1998 through March 1999) (See chart). Companies "not intending to increase their investments" accounted for 48.5 percent, up about 15 percentage points from fiscal 1997. Companies giving the response of "investment amount on the same level as the previous year" accounted for 29.5 percent, up 8.2 percentage points year on year. And companies that said they would "reduce investments" accounted for 19.0 percent, up 5.9 percentage points. A total of 51.5 percent of the companies said they would "increase investments." This compares with 62.6 percent in fiscal 1996 and 65.6 percent in fiscal 1997. This year's figure showed a decline of more than 10 percentage points. The positive mood for IT investment, characterized by promotion of end-user computing and migration to open systems, appears to have leveled off. Nevertheless, not all companies are reducing their investments. About 31.6 percent of the companies responded that they intended to "increase investment by more than 20 percent." This is much higher than the level of 23.4 percent a year earlier. The survey indicates that the companies that plan to increase their IT investments this year seek to make large investments. Broader User Base For Intranets According to this year's survey, implementation of corporate intranets increased by 10 percentage points from the previous survey. Intranets began to be popular in 1995, and they are now employed by 25.6 percent of the companies. As for the implementation rate classified by company size, nearly 60 percent of large-scale companies with more than 5,000 employees have implemented intranets. Midsize companies with fewer than 500 employees have an implementation rate of over 15 percent. About 30.7 percent of the companies plan to implement intranets, and this figure exceeds the groupware installation rate of 21.1 percent. Year 2000 Problem Takes Time For Completion The clock is ticking on the Year 2000 problem. The previous survey disclosed that the problem had been tackled by 47.6 percent of the companies. In contrast, this year's survey showed that 82.1 percent of the companies are working on necessary countermeasures. About 60 percent said that they had already done more than half of the necessary work. It should be noted that the companies that "have completed their countermeasures" are still small in number. In last year's survey, 14.4 percent responded that they had completed their Year 2000 work. This year, 20.2 percent gave the response: "The countermeasures have almost been completed including a connection test with partners outside the company." Many companies apparently are behind schedule. Just under 20 percent of the companies responded that they would start solving the problem, or establish the necessary plans. 20 Percent Outsource Host System Operations From 1997, outsourcing became popular in Japan. Some large companies including banks discontinued use of their mainframes and switched the information processing operations to outside vendors. In some cases, even EDP is being outsourced. Japanese companies had formerly been managed under a policy of internal system development and internal operations. But those days are virtually over. This year's survey showed that nearly 60 percent of the companies had already hired outside resource vendors to handle their system development and operations. A total of 42.4 percent outsource a portion of their operations, and 16.3 percent outsource all of their system development. For outsourcing of system operations, just under 20 percent of the companies responded that they would entrust all operations involving host systems including mainframes and office computers to outside experts. For systems using client-server systems fewer than 10 percent of companies are fully outsourcing those systems and the same percent prevails for Web-based systems. However, more than 10 percent of the companies responded that they have plans to entrust such systems to outside vendors. Detailed survey results are published in the July 20 issue of Nikkei Computer (in Japanese). (return to news) (Nikkei Computer)

To: djane who wrote (52141)	8/14/1998 5:14:00 PM
From: djane	Respond to of 61433

Internet access about to take off in Europe pubs.cmpnet.com A service of Semiconductor Business News, CMP Media Inc. Story posted at 10:30 a.m. EDT/7:30 a.m. PDT, 8/11/98 EGHAM, England -- Although Europe has been slow to embrace the Internet, that is beginning to change, according to Dataquest Inc. As a result, the potential for sales of PCs on the Continent is considerable. The market researcher sees the European Internet market growing from 13.3 million computers connected to the Internet last year to 69 million computers in 2002. It projects the market will grow 60% in 1998, with 21.2 million Internet seats. The consumer segment led the market, with more than 7 million computers connected to the Internet in 1997, followed by the business sector with 6.2 million. This trend will change by the year 2000, however, when the business market is estimated to have 22.8 million Internet seats, passing the consumer market's 21.8 million Internet seats. "As telecommunication deregulation begins to show its impact in Europe, prices for higher-speed access such as leased lines will decrease, and some medium-sized companies that today can't afford leased-line access will switch over," said Petra Gartzen, senior industry analyst for Dataquest's Internet and Enterprise Strategies Europe program here in Britain. "Once a company has leased-line access, a much larger number of employees can be given Internet access." Germany led all countries in the region with 4.7 million Internet seats in 1997, followed by the U.K. and France with 2 million and 1 million Internet seats, respectively. These three countries will continue to account for more than half of all Internet seats in Europe through 2002. But France is projected to post the strongest growth among the top three countries, reaching 10.1 million Internet seats by 2002. "France was slow to start in Internet adoption because France Telecom was slow to enter the Internet market and because Minitel, France Telecom's proprietary online service, was so popular," said Gartzen. "France Telecom is now a driving force in the French Internet market, and recent growth figures show a big increase in interest in the Internet in both the business and consumer sectors."

To: djane who wrote (52141)	8/14/1998 5:20:00 PM
From: djane	Respond to of 61433

Must-read. NTT brings fiber-to-the-curb via passive optical networking [Interesting LU reference since we know NTT is a big ASND customer. Questions? -Is Bell South an ASND customer? -Based on this article, it would seem logical that NTT would end up buying Bell South? I've read that NTT has been rumored to be interested in Verio and getting into the local US market.] -Does anyone know about the ATM-pon technology? broadband-guide.com News, August 1998 By Robert Pease Creating new excitement for proponents of fiber-to-the-curb (FTTC) technology, Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. (NTT - Tokyo) is working to connect customers to multiple services through an all-fiber passive optical network (PON) system. NTT's network, known as the Pi-PON system, is a new optical access system aimed at providing FTTC and fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) services while efficiently using the wide-bandwidth and cost-performance characteristics of optical fibers. In 1994, NTT announced a commitment to further development of its end-to-end multimedia optical network by 2010, when it plans to have all 60 million Japanese subscribers covered by the pon system. NTT's new infrastructure will allow the network to offer customers video applications, Internet access, and other high-bandwidth capabilities. pon technology is called "passive" because it eliminates the requirement for active electrical devices or power supplies. For example, NTT's Pi-PON system uses a passive double star topography, in which a passive optical splitter accepts a light signal from an optical line terminal located in a central office, splits the signal into multiple beams, and distributes those beams to optical network units located near subscribers (in an FTTC application) or within the subscriber's premises (for FTTH). This contrasts with active double star networks, which typically must use equipment to convert the optical signal to an electrical signal for transmission via copper or coaxial cable to the home or neighborhood distribution unit. Lucent Technologies (Murray Hill, NJ) will provide pon technology for the NTT access network throughout Japan. As one of several vendors on the project, Lucent will deploy optical networking units and optical line terminals. Lucent, which already has nearly 7000 employees across the Asia/Pacific region, recently expanded its Bell Laboratories presence in Japan to support this and other projects in the Japanese market. The new Bell Labs research and development organization, which will focus on developing prototypes for pon systems, will be located in Makuhari, near Tokyo. Moving to the home NTT also is focusing its efforts to bring fiber directly into the business and residential sectors of Japan through evolving FTTH technology. According to Eiichi Shimizu, Lucent's president of global service-provider business in Japan, NTT is leading the way in the deployment and commercialization of pon-based FTTH technology. He says NTT customers will soon lead the world in sophisticated communications capabilities in their businesses and homes. High costs have been a drawback to optical access networks in the past, but it makes sense for NTT to pursue the technology for several reasons. Japan's dense population makes FTTH much more practical, since customers are in close proximity rather than spread over large geographical areas. Contributing to lower costs is that in Japan, distribution cables are strung from poles in the air, enabling easy replacement of metallic cables without the major construction costs associated with digging up underground cables. Lastly, the cost of fiber is on a downward trend. NTT believes the cost of optical access networking materials and equipment will make FTTH the most cost-efficient option by the year 2001. As part of its pursuit of FTTH, NTT has teamed with BellSouth (Atlanta, GA) to pool information, industry expertise, and research data to advance the availability and affordability of FTTH technology. The two companies will collaborate on a joint research and development project to create common technical specifications for high-speed optical networking systems (see figure.) As part of the mutual agreement, NTT and BellSouth will contribute their findings to the Full Service Access Network (FSAN) initiative, a group of 14 international telecommunications companies working to develop common broadband access system specifications. Any common technical specifications developed through this agreement between NTT and BellSouth will be disseminated through FSAN for possible submission to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) as a future standard. FSAN members include Bell Canada, BellSouth, BT, Deutsche Telecom, Dutch PTT, France Telecom, GTE, Korea Telecom, NTT, SBC, Swisscom, Telefonica, Telstra, and Telecom Italia. The primary goal of NTT and BellSouth is to create specifications for technology that would allow optical fiber to be installed from the curb into the home to provide high-speed access to communications networks. Recent technological advances and cost reductions have spurred particular interest in Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)-PON, which will be a point of emphasis in the NTT/BellSouth collaboration. BellSouth's vision for FTTH is for customers to be able to purchase communications appliances locally to be used for voice, video, data, or imaging applications. When plugged into the customer's home telecommunications network, the needed telecommunications would be provisioned automatically and immediately. The companies will deploy their experimental technology on a limited basis in the course of their research and development. NTT has already deployed narrowband and video distribution FTTH and broadband ATM-PON systems, and it plans to introduce a fully FSAN-compliant ATM-PON system in 1999. BellSouth plans to install a "first office application" FTTH system using FSAN-compliant ATM-PON technology next year. Besides sharing information on access systems, NTT and BellSouth expect to deepen their joint involvement in the development of access system and optical-fiber distribution technology. Back to the News Index Home \| Electronic Press Room \| This Week in Fiber \| Subscribe \| 1998 Media Kit \| Calendar of Events \| Site Map \| Add Your Company \| Meet the Publisher \| Company Index \| Contractors \| Categories \| Sponsors, Advertisers \| Ask the Expert! \| Product Showcase \| LiveEvents! \| Search The Communications Web Sites Broadband Guide \| Contractors Directory \| LiveEvents! \| LIGHTWAVE Xtra! \| Wireless Integration Xtra! \| Cable Foreman Xtra! \| Cabling Installation & Maintenance Xtra! Visit the Optoelectronics Web Sites Meet the Publisher Comments or Questions about this site, please contact the Webmaster. cCopyright 1995-1998 PennWell Media Online LLC This page was updated on 7-Aug-98.

To: djane who wrote (52141)	8/14/1998 5:24:00 PM
From: djane	Respond to of 61433

Big Carriers Race To Extend IP Networks Globally iw.com August 10, 1998 By Brian Caulfield AT&T and British Telecommunications (BT) will invest $1 billion in U.S. high-tech and communications firms to help build a global IP network over the next four years. The move represents the largest effort yet to enhance international access to the Internet--which historically has been U.S.-centric--and will greatly accelerate the convergence of voice and data networks. "The whole world is moving to IP backbones, and AT&T and British Telecom want to make sure they're not dragging up the rear," said Daniel Briere, president of telecom research firm TeleChoice. The new venture proposed by AT&T and BT would result in a massive data network that would link 100 cities around the world. The IP-based network will run at 200 Gbps, and carry both voice and data traffic. The deal is part of a larger $10 billion joint venture by AT&T and BT to merge some of their international operations in order to cater to the lucrative multinational business market. The as-yet-unnamed venture will be based in the United States. The joint venture comes as global deregulation and new technologies are lowering barriers to entry in international telecommunications markets, said Brian Cotton, a research director at market research firm Frost & Sullivan. "AT&T is big, and they are getting bigger," Cotton said. "It sets them up to solidify or reinforce their position at the top of the food chain." On the global level, the most formidable competitor to the AT&T-BT IP network will be WorldCom, which announced a deal last year to acquire MCI for $37 billion. Another challenger analysts pointed to was Global One, a partnership between Sprint, Deutsche Telekom, and France Telecom. In the domestic market, said Frost & Sullivan's Cotton, new technology and deregulation are pushing the Baby Bells into deals such as Bell Atlantic's proposed $52.9 billion acquisition of GTE, announced last month, and SBC Communications' proposed $62 billion acquisition of Ameritech. does size matter? But analysts are undecided about whether bigger will prove to be better, and there's no guarantee that the traditional carriers have a head start in the global race to deliver Internet-based services. Firms such as Qwest Communications, PSINet, and Level 3 Communications [All ASND customers] are positioning themselves as pure IP infrastructure providers--the so-called next generation of carriers. PSINet is aggressively expanding abroad, having recently acquired ISPs in France, Switzerland, Canada, and Germany. Qwest has already launched voice-over-IP services that compete with long distance service from the traditional carriers, and Level 3 and PSINet are planning to. Chuck Davin, PSINet's chief technology officer, argued that pure-play IP carriers with existing IP infrastructure will be in a good position to compete for business customers with the AT&T-BT venture and other telcos entering the data market. As carriers increase their Internet capabilities, the Internet access industry is splitting into two categories: large infrastructure players and smaller Internet-access resellers. The large infrastructure firms will likely control the IP backbone, as the MCI-WorldCom merger and the new AT&T-BT venture indicate, said John Coons, principal analyst for Internet infrastructure at Dataquest. Their base of customers will give them the economies of scale to be able to invest billions in international network infrastructure. [Nicer words have never been spoken...] Meanwhile, the trend among ISPs has been to specialize in high-margin consulting or value-added services. Consumer ISPs such as EarthLink Network and America Online already outsource most of their infrastructure. And while business ISPs like Concentric Network often continue to manage their own network infrastructure, they typically buy the raw bandwidth from a carrier. Concentric, for example, leases its bandwidth, but it manages its network at the IP level to offer virtual private networking, voice-over-IP, and Internet videoconferencing services. However, Mark Fisher, senior vice president and general manager of Concentric's network services division, said he sees a trend among infrastructure firms toward delivering cheaper and higher-quality Internet access. "The trick for Concentric will be to ensure that whenever the carriers get to that stage, we are well past them in terms of innovative products and value-added products," Fisher said. "It's a matter of keeping ahead." Two Global Network Deals Annual revenue: $3.5B (projected) Employees: 5,000 (projected) Notes: BT will buy out MCI's stake in Concert, an MCI-BT joint venture, and merge it with AT&T's global telecom operations MCI-Worldcom 1997 annual revenue: MCI, $19.65B; WorldCom, $7.35B Employees: MCI, 60,409 in 1997; WorldCom, 20,300 in 1997 Notes: MCI-WorldCom will be AT&T-BT's biggest competitor in the voice and data services market for multinational firms For thumbnail sketches of other telecom players with big Internet ambitions, see www.iw.com/extra/networkdeals.html. source for data: company reports RELATED STORIES: Keywords: infrastructure Date: 19980810 Copyright 1998 Mecklermedia Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Legal Notices.

To: djane who wrote (52141)	8/14/1998 5:29:00 PM
From: djane	Respond to of 61433

IP telephony growth provides opportunities for all participants broadband-guide.com Market Watch, August 1998 Internet voice combines the explosive growth of the Internet with the huge size of the telephony markets, providing a hybrid that offers opportunities in both markets. According to Internet Protocol Telephony: New Markets for Systems and Service Providers, a new study by Killen & Associates (Palo Alto, CA), each market participant must decide what to do about this opportunity. For users, Internet voice can be a money-saver, providing strong motivation for buying into it. The first consideration that must be addressed is quality. Killen suggests all Internet voice is not equal. It's dependent on gateways and conversion software, basic network bandwidth, and whether the company uses an intranet or public Internet. The quality needed depends on the application. Internet voice may not satisfy a firm intending to provide "high-value" conversations. Yet, for intranet purposes, less quality may be acceptable when considering dollars saved. Telecommunications managers should consider how to use this new technology to find new ways to do business, not just to save on telephone calls. According to the Killen report, the Internet service providers (ISPs) have "a tiger by the tail." Although they have a lot of new business, they also have a lot of new competition. They must enter the Internet voice market on as many levels as possible. If they don't, the local exchange carriers (lecs) and interexchange carriers will deliver it to the customers, leaving ISPs at a market disadvantage. This means ISPs need to obtain gateways for use on their premises and accept analog voice traffic from lecs, which already carry Internet traffic. They should also offer PC-to-analog phone and analog phone-to-analog phone Internet voice services. Partnership agreements may be advantageous for offering turnkey networks, including Internet voice. Internet voice is a whole new world for traditional telephone companies that are used to analog voice and the approach of "adding new features to it." These companies should embrace Internet voice and develop it with a separate market organization structure, says the Killen report. It should become a separate product line with direct access to field sales, product development, and research. Telephone companies should use their resources to ensure their services are of the best quality possible. Using their internal capabilities, they should deliver turnkey systems, including Internet voice from analog phone to analog phone. Many companies are large enough to buy ISPs, as GTE did. Equipment and software manufacturers of products for both user and carrier premises will serve a market of $7.5 billion, with double-digit growth rates by 2002. New products are being developed and new accounts installed at high speeds. New entrants have many opportunities and established suppliers face new challenges from them. The market moves quickly, and the first companies to introduce superior products can become market leaders. Companies with the technology to provide quality but not international reach or large sales revenues should consider licensing or partnerships. Companies with international sales reach but no products should do whatever it takes to acquire the rights to such products. Lastly, the Killen report indicates that system integrators do best when there is a large, rapidly changing market, and users do not understand how to use the new products. If the market moves so quickly that vendors cannot provide turnkey systems to users, so much the better. These are the characteristics of intranets and voice Internet applications. Systems integrators have a large opportunity in this market. They should move quickly to gain experience and have showcase accounts. They also should develop partnerships with equipment and service vendors who have the products and customer contacts, but cannot design and manage as many turnkey systems as their customer base requires. For more information or to purchase a complete study, call Karl Duffy at Killen & Associates, (650) 617-6130. Back to the Market Watch Index Home \| Electronic Press Room \| This Week in Fiber \| Subscribe \| 1998 Media Kit \| Calendar of Events \| Site Map \| Add Your Company \| Meet the Publisher \| Company Index \| Contractors \| Categories \| Sponsors, Advertisers \| Ask the Expert! \| Product Showcase \| LiveEvents! \| Search The Communications Web Sites Broadband Guide \| Contractors Directory \| LiveEvents! \| LIGHTWAVE Xtra! \| Wireless Integration Xtra! \| Cable Foreman Xtra! \| Cabling Installation & Maintenance Xtra! Visit the Optoelectronics Web Sites Meet the Publisher Comments or Questions about this site, please contact the Webmaster. cCopyright 1995-1998 PennWell Media Online LLC This page was updated on 7-Aug-98.

To: djane who wrote (52141)	8/14/1998 5:33:00 PM
From: djane	Respond to of 61433

Optical access networks to provide U.S. market opportunities for WDM systems broadband-guide.com Market Watch, August 1998 The optical-access-network market is rapidly emerging in the United States, resulting in a steady increase in deployment of wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) systems for local businesses and consumers, according to a report by Pioneer Consulting (Cambridge, MA). Optical Access Networks: WDM and Optical Networking for Local Loop and Cable TV Applications forecasts an increase from $76 million in 1998 to $1 billion by 2003 for the deployment of WDM systems into access networks in the United States. The forecast includes end-to-end WDM systems for enterprise, metropolitan area, local exchange carrier (lec), and local access networks. Optical access networks improve on the traditional fiber-to-the-curb or fiber-to-the-neighborhood schemes by adding all-optical components and subsystems such as add/drop multiplexers, crossconnects, dense WDM systems, and amplifiers to create an optical layer within the access network. This layer then performs routing, switching, and crossconnect functions completely in the optical domain. Pioneer says optical access networks have become the next logical step in the optical networking market's evolution and present the potential for long-term growth and profits for manufacturers. But no one solution will arise that satisfies the demands of all consumers or carriers. Instead, access architecture chosen for a particular deployment will depend on the current or predicted regulatory regime, carriers' competitive environment, predicted service mix, scalability of network architecture, system costs, demographics, and embedded plant. The report calls the present access network in the U.S. market a complex battleground of competition and uncertainty. The important forces driving the consideration and deployment of optical access networks include competition, cable congestion, increased bandwidth demand, and the availability of more affordable WDM equipment. The Internet is the most important long-term driver of bandwidth in the access loop, with upward trends in residential and business markets. The most remarkable aspect of the Internet, says Pioneer, is its ability to impress both markets equally, despite its many limitations. Bandwidth demand is being driven to the point where WDM deployment seems almost inevitable. Although currently dominated by long-haul carriers, viable markets will exist over the long term for WDM systems in competitive local exchange carriers, incumbent local exchange carriers, enterprise network operators and, though more limited, cable-television operators. A number of important opportunities are arising for vendors of systems, subsystems, and components in the optical-access market. As the market develops from dense WDM point-to-point solutions to true all-optical network deployments, a number of criteria must be met by access providers. Bell Atlantic, in developing an optical network strategy, identified such criteria for optical-access deployment. According to Bell Atlantic, any new technology introduced into the network must use existing fiber plants, provide operations and management cost savings, be flexible to uncertain and chaotic demand, optimize investment, and allow evolution to the most efficient network topology in each location. For additional information or to purchase a complete report, contact Pioneer Consulting; tel: (617) 441-3900; e-mail: info@pioneerconsulting.com. Back to the Market Watch Index cCopyright 1995-1998 PennWell Media Online LLC This page was updated on 7-Aug-98.