Ascend's run today makes me wonder if the strength was based on their announcement with Frontier involving DWDM. If you read the original announcement from July, you'll notice NEC's DWDM is being used, a fact that's omitted in today's release.
ascend.com
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ROCHESTER, N.Y., July 30, 1998 -- Frontier Corporation (NYSE: FRO) today announced that it will deploy more than 40 Ascend Communications (NASDAQ: ASND) GX 550 "Smart Core" and CBX 500 Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) core switches nationwide by the first quarter of 1999. This ATM layer is the latest piece of Frontier's versatile Optronics network, which will provide extremely scalable, high-speed transport for bandwidth-intensive data, Internet, intranet, video and voice applications.
Frontier is one of the first carriers to conduct interoperability testing of the Ascend GX 550 "Smart Core" ATM switch directly over SpectralWave Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) equipment from NEC America, Inc. (NASDAQ: NIPNY). This network design offers an alternative to the SONET infrastructure, resulting in the capability to deliver higher interface speeds and greater efficiencies for customers.
Frontier's ATM network layer will allocate network capacity and assign priorities for different types of traffic. Frontier will utilize Ascend's GX 550 switches for high-speed ATM access and trunking. Ascend's CBX 500 ATM switches will support Frontier's multiservice, multiuser network. These are the first switches to offer end-to-end Quality of Service (QoS) over frame relay, Internet Protocol (IP) and ATM -- applications all supported by Frontier's Optronics network.
"We unveiled a frame relay network last year for data-intensive customers. Earlier this week, we announced plans to deploy an OC-48c IP layer to our network for web-centric customers. Now with ATM, we can provide the scalability, reliability and capacity critical for customers with high- bandwidth needs," said Robert L. Barrett, President of Frontier Technology. "Whatever the customer size, whatever their current technological infrastructure, and whatever their future telecommunications needs may be, Frontier can accommodate them. We are future-proofing our network to ensure that customers have the bandwidth for whatever applications they may deploy to support their business goals, now and well into the future."
Ascend, a world leader in ATM technology, was the natural choice for Frontier. "We're pleased Frontier has chosen to partner with Ascend on this revolutionary, multilayer network," said Hassan Ahmed, Ascend's Executive Vice President and General Manager, Core Systems Division. "By combining core switch performance and edge switch intelligence and offering multiservice capability, our products are providing Frontier with the carrier-class approach so important in building new public networks such as this one."
Frontier is working with NEC to maximize its available network capacity through DWDM. This technology dramatically boosts the capacity of a single strand of fiber, creating virtually unlimited capacity on-demand, a concept Frontier refers to as liquid bandwidth. James Jaffke, General Manager, Strategic Account Programs, NEC America's Public Networks Group, stated, "This integrated solution enables Frontier to be one of the first to provision and manage ATM-based services with unlimited bandwidth allocation over the optical network layer."
When completed early next year, Frontier's Optronics network will connect more than 120 cities around the nation with a network capacity of 460 Gigabits per second (Gbps).
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Today's announcement:
newsalert.com
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Frontier Deploys Fastest ATM Network in Industry
Business Wire - December 07, 1998 14:31
ROCHESTER, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 7, 1998--Frontier Communications continues to set the pace of innovation in the communications industry by deploying the fastest Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) network available today.
Using switches purchased from Ascend Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASND), Frontier is transmitting its ATM traffic at 2.5 Gigabits per second (Gbps) directly over Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) equipment. That's 16 times faster than the typical ATM technology currently in use.
"This isn't something we're promising to do in the future -- we're doing it now. The ATM layer of the Frontier Optronics Network(SM) is already lit and carrying traffic at incredible speeds," said Michael Coghill, Frontier's vice president of network operations. "Let me try to put the impact of this announcement into perspective with an analogy. If you think of traditional networks moving at 65 miles per hour, Frontier's ATM highway raises the speed limit to 3,000 miles per hour. Thanks to Frontier, network congestion may well become a thing of the past."
"Ascend is pleased to partner with such an innovative service provider as Frontier," said Thomas DeCanio, vice president of Ascend's product marketing core switching division. "By connecting Ascend GX 550 ATM switches directly to DWDM at OC-48/STM-16 speeds, thereby eliminating an entire layer of traditional transmission equipment, Frontier is deploying the most efficient network architecture possible at the fastest ATM speeds available."
The Frontier Optronics Network already moves data at OC-48 rates (2.5 Gbps) over its coast-to-coast Internet Protocol (IP) network layer. Frontier has also created a "network express lane," deploying Hyper-Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (HDWDM) equipment in its top 20 markets. HDWDM can move traffic at speeds of 1.28 terabits (trillions) of data per second on a single fiber strand. This ability to transmit trillions of bits of data, instead of the billions carried by conventional optical technology, makes the Frontier Optronics Network the fastest in the world.
About Frontier Communications
Frontier Communications, a unit of Frontier Corporation (NYSE:FRO), is one of the leading providers of integrated communications solutions -- including Internet, IP and data applications, long distance, local telephone and wireless -- to business customers nationwide. The self-healing Frontier Optronics Network(SM) provides customers with faster transmission speeds, greater bandwidth capacity and unrivaled reliability. For more information, visit the Frontier web site at www.frontiercorp.com.
You can receive a faxed copy of any Frontier Corporation press release dating back to November 1997, free of charge, 24 hours a day by calling 1-800-448-8533. An automated system will provide you with instructions. >>>> |
