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

To: Techplayer who wrote (60410)	3/24/1999 9:09:00 PM
From: Jorj X Mckie	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 61433

Brian, Something that you might consider is that the STRM acquisition may also have been motivated by the multiservice (read; voice) capabilities and knowledge. The STRM products were the first that provided enterprise voice/data capabilities for CSCO. This is obviously a major focus now. This is not to say that the ATM and FR products and presence in the service provider market were not the key motivators. But CSCC certainly did not have products in the multiservice space. Just a thought, JXM

To: Techplayer who wrote (60410)	3/25/1999 1:28:00 AM
From: MMW	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 61433

If your asnders still remember, ASND actually bid on STRM after CSCO announced it will buy STRM. I think ASND has a vision long time ago. After lost the bid on STRM in 1996, ASND bought CSCC cheap in 1997. It turned out ASND stumbled cross a good one too. Too bad to see ASND go away within a couple month. Cheers! Mike

To: Techplayer who wrote (60410)	3/25/1999 10:10:00 AM
From: The Phoenix	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 61433

Well Brian, this is indeed a mulitfaceted issue. A couple more thoughts. I not certain on the timing but the Lightstream purchase was well over a year before the STRM purchase. The Lightstream purchase gave CSCO campus ATM and if I were to guess the LS1010 by itself has generated more the 100M in earnings over it's life at Cisco...notwithstanding technologies that might be used in other products and technical resources that came along with the purchase. The only product that was eliminated was the LS2020 I think..? As for the STRM purchase. I agree that STRM was the leader in ATM at the time - it has to be a little curious that they lost this position under the leadership of an IP oriented company - no? While ASND absolutely HAD to make CSCC go or be relegated to an also-ran. At the time CSCO was taking ASND to task in the RAS space and ASND would not have recovered had it not been for their good fortune with CSCC. So, ASND did a great job of letting the CSCC "gang" continue to move on their target of delivering great ATM products while the STRM "gang" was dealing with life in an IP/Enterprise world. It's my opinion that this slowed down STRM and they are only now begining to recover. You're right, this is a lesson that I think Chambers learned. Remember STRM and CSCO were in close proximity and had similar cultures as well. This is why he has been critical of the LU/ASND deal, different cultures, different goals, and different coasts. This doesn't mean it won't be successful but it will make life a bit more difficult especially as we move towards a coverged data/voice world. LU has too much to lose and I think will do what they can to slow down adoption - it's in their best interest. This will have an effect on ASND as well and their ability to maintain their edge. Bottom line, it should be interesting. I'm still invested in ASND simply because I think the market is so big that LU/ASND will succeed on some level...just not sure yet who will succeed more. OG