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Ascend bundles carrier products
By Saroja Girishankar, InternetWeek
ASCEND COMMUNICATIONS IS TYING together its backbone and access
switches, along with network-management software, to offer all-in-one
Internet protocol (IP) and asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) systems for
Internet service providers and carriers.
The goal is to offer simpler, faster and less expensive multimedia
services for business and individual customers, according to Ascend
president and CEO Mory Ejabat.
Ascend's forthcoming product portfolio comprises a new multiservice
access switch for terminating diverse high-speed access services, a
variety of digital subscriber line (DSL) concentrators for high-speed
access, upgrades to its Navis management software, quality-of-service
(QoS) upgrades to provide flexible service levels, higher-capacity
versions of its MAX-TNT multiplexer and GRF backbone router, and
Signaling System 7 (SS7) signaling and circuit-switch-quality voice
additions to all Ascend products.
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Ascend's DSL products, which include a dedicated DSL Multiplexer, a DSL
Access Multiplexer (DSLAM) with IP routing and other unspecified DSL
devices, will be announced in November.
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"In order for service providers to move their voice traffic over data
networks and improve existing services, they need the reliability,
availability and high voice quality of circuit switches combined with
QoS capabilities and easier and cheaper operational tools," Ejabat said.
For UUNet Technologies Inc. (Fairfax, Va.), Ascend's largest customer,
such improvements would be welcome.
"Scalability and bandwidth control from all our vendors are critical to
us because our traffic demand doubles every three and a half months, and
our customers want the tiered services that come through bandwidth
control," said Alan Taffel, UUNet's vice president of marketing.
Taffel said UUNet installs about 1,000 T1 lines every month and would
appreciate any help in shortening and automating the provisioning
chores.
The DSL, SS7 and Navis upgrades will be the first ones delivered,
beginning next month and continuing in December. Others will follow in
the next few quarters, Ascend said.
Ejabat said the integration of SS7 signaling -- a technology that
provides call control and setup for voice calls -- will be available
starting in November across Ascend's line of core ATM, frame relay and
access switches, as well as across its routers and other access devices.
Ascend gained SS7 capabilities in its acquisition of Stratus Computer.
Thus far, service providers have had to use Ascend's Signaling Gateway
to separate data from voice traffic.
Ascend's DSL products, which include a dedicated DSL Multiplexer, a DSL
Access Multiplexer (DSLAM) with IP routing, and other unspecified DSL
devices, will be announced in November, said Kurt Bauer, vice president
of product and marketing for Ascend's access switching division.
But Ascend expects the next-generation Multiservice Access Switch to
capture the industry's attention. Both Ejabat and Bauer said the
product, which is under development, will let service providers
terminate analog modem, DSL, cable and wireless services in a single
box, reducing the need for additional points of presence for Internet
service providers (ISPs). It also will benefit carriers by simplifying
management of access devices.
Bauer said the new switch will use Ascend's Time Access Operating
system, which combines IP routing, ATM and frame relay switching with
SS7 signaling, voice-over-IP (VoIP) and virtual private network (VPN)
features, plus termination of all access services.
Ascend also is increasing the capacity of its OC-3 MAX-TNT multiplexer
by four to five times to offer aggregated speeds equal to the 622-Mbit/s
OC-12 interface for ISPs and carriers with high-volume traffic. Bauer
said new application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and software
for MAX-TNT also will make it more reliable. The new TNT will ship in
the first half of 1999. An upgraded version of Ascend's GRF router,
capable of handling terabit speeds, is due sometime next year.
Ascend in December will roll out upgrades to its Navis management
software that will let service providers automatically provision, bill
and manage services, Bauer said. Other tools will add service-management
capabilities to Ascend's access products. Administrators will get a
graphic, real-time view of the status of services and feed that
information into the Navis software, which manages the core ATM and IP
devices.
Industry analysts were upbeat about Ascend's ambitious plans.
"In the end, it will mean more choices in services and competitive
pricing for business and individual customers," said Liza Henderson,
director of consulting at TeleChoice.
Henderson said Ascend's new products should strengthen its market
position, whereas competitors such as Cisco Systems Inc. (San Jose,
Calif.) have only lately geared up for the growing demands of service
providers. |
