Ascend Announces SA 1200 Broadband Service Concentrator and SA 50 Broadband Service Unit
Business Wire - September 14, 1998 08:32
%ASCEND ASND %CALIFORNIA %COMPUTERS %ELECTRONICS %COMED %TELECOMMUNICATIONS %PRODUCT V%BW P%BW
ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 14, 1998--
Latest Additions to Broadband Access Family Provide Most Scalable, Cost-Effective Broadband Access Solutions for Converged Voice, Data, and Video Networks
Ascend Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:ASND), a leader in wide area networking (WAN) solutions for providers and users of the New Public Network, today announced two new additions to the SA Broadband Access product family: the SA 1200 Broadband Service Concentrator and the SA 50 Broadband Service Unit. Filling a need for broadband access at both the high and low end, the SA 1200 and SA 50 both feature voice compression capabilities, announced today as part of the next phase of Ascend's MultiVoice strategy.
"The SA 1200 and the SA 50 round out Ascend's portfolio of broadband access solutions," said Max Arbo, director of product marketing for broadband access at Ascend. "We are leveraging our expertise in building carrier-class IP, Frame Relay, and ATM network solutions for the New Public Network, to build integrated, cost-effective broadband access solutions that consolidate voice, data, and video applications on a common broadband infrastructure."
The SA 1200 offers the highest port density in the SA family, while delivering an economical means to aggregate multiple access services. The SA 1200 extends the Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) WAN for growing service providers who seek regional concentration of remote subscriber services. The carrier-class SA 1200 can be co-located in a central office with Ascend's Multiservice CBX 500 ATM switch and the GX 550 "Smart" Core ATM switch, increasing the utilization of the service providers' core network infrastructure.
The Ascend SA 50 provides a low-cost, entry-level platform for multiservice access into an ATM WAN network. The SA 50 dramatically reduces equipment, operations, and connection costs, and simplifies network management, while improving application performance. The SA 50 offers service providers a customer located platform to deliver managed services at speeds up to T1 / E1. As bandwidth requirements increase, the SA 50 can be easily upgraded to the more powerful SA 100 Broadband Service Unit.
In addition to the availability of SA 1200 and SA 50, Ascend also announced today advanced voice and management capabilities across the entire SA product line, the next version of MultiVoice for the MAX, and a new alliance program to accelerate the integration of MultiVoice solutions with third-party applications. Together, these announcements deliver Phase 2 of Ascend's MultiVoice Strategy, announced in March of 1998.
Phase 1 of MultiVoice, MultiVoice over IP and Frame Relay, shipped in Q1 of 1998. Phase 2, MultiVoice over ATM, has been in field trials Q2 and Q3. The third phase of Ascend's MultiVoice strategy assures capability and provides SS7 carrier signaling integration. Phase 3 will be delivered by the end of 1998 utilizing SS7 technology from Ascend's acquisition of Stratus Computer.
"It's evident that Ascend is dedicated to building next generation networking solutions that save its customers money," said Tim Roberts, president and chief technical officer of Digital Broadcast Network. "The addition of Ascend's SA 1200 Broadband Service Concentrator will allow us to cost efficiently consolidate broadband access and leverage our existing ATM infrastructure for a converged voice, video, and data network. The SA 1200 will enable us to aggregate multiple low-speed ATM access interfaces and terminate a single high-speed OC-3 / STM-1 trunking interface to a core ATM switch, optimizing network utilization."
The SA Broadband Access Family
The SA product family offers network service providers the industry's most complete, scalable, and flexible ATM access solutions for migrating existing voice, video, and data applications to the New Public Network. Ascend's scalable SA platforms, along with the industry leading Multiservice CBX 500 ATM WAN switch and the GX 550 "Smart" Core ATM switch, enables network service providers to leverage their existing networks and build next generation broadband access networks.
Ascend's SA Broadband Access family includes the SA 50 and SA 100 Broadband Service Units, and the SA 600 and SA 1200 Broadband Service Concentrators. The entire product line employs common hardware and software modules, designed to minimize the cost of ownership.
Pricing and Availability
The SA 1200 is available now, with pricing starting at $20,000. The SA 50 will be available in Q4, '98, with pricing starting at $7,000.
About Ascend Communications
Ascend Communications Inc. develops, manufactures, sells and services wide area networking solutions for telecommunications carriers, Internet service providers and corporate customers worldwide.
Press and industry analysts please contact Julie Asher, Alexander Communications, (404) 897-2300 or jasher@alexandercom.com. Investors and financial analysts, please contact Kristina Graziano, (510) 747-2345 or kristina.graziano@ascend.com. For all other inquiries please call toll-free: 800/ASCEND4.
For more information about Ascend and its products, please visit the Ascend web site at www.ascend.com, or send e-mail to info@ascend.com. Ascend is headquartered at One Ascend Plaza, 1701 Harbor Bay Parkway, Alameda, Calif. 94502; phone is 800/ASCEND4 and fax is 510/814-2300.
The foregoing statements may contain forward-looking statements that are based on current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from these expectations as a result of factors including, but not limited to, the Company's success in developing, introducing or shipping new products, competition, the mix of distribution channels employed, the Company's dependence on single or limited source suppliers for certain components used in its products, risks inherent in international sales, seasonality and general economic conditions. These and other factors are discussed in Ascend's 10-K, 10-Q and other filings made periodically with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
CONTACT: Ascend Communications
Mike Robinson, 978/952-1576
or
Alexander Communications
Julie Asher, 404/897-2300 ext. 360
jasher@alexandercom.com
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