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FROST & SULLIVAN REPORT NAMES
ASCEND #1 IN REMOTE ACCESS
CONCENTRATOR REVENUES FOR 1998
ALAMEDA, Calif., December 1, 1998 - Ascend Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASND),
a leader in wide area networking (WAN) and Intelligent Networking (IN) solutions for
providers and users of the next-generation public network, has once again been declared
the market leader in Remote Access Concentrator (RAC) revenues, according to Frost &
Sullivan's newly released 1998 "US Remote Access Hardware Markets" report.
According to the Frost & Sullivan report, Ascend not only continues to lead all
competitors with 30 percent market share in RAC revenues for 1998, but has increased its
share over 1997. The Frost and Sullivan report cites Ascend's emphasis on standards,
interoperability, and responsiveness to the diverse range of customer requirements in
positioning it for future market share growth.
"Ascend has been a pioneer in the carrier market for remote access concentrators
and has been among the first to incorporate an increasing array of multi-service
capabilities into its products," said Greg Naderi, market research analyst with Frost
and Sullivan. "Ascend's success can be attributed to its ability to develop new
products, enhance existing product lines, and distribute its products through hybrid
distribution channels that efficiently reach customers throughout the world."
Ascend's leadership in the remote access market is centered on the MAX families of WAN
access switching products, offering the broadest range of access solutions in the
industry. Ascend's MAX WAN access switch product line includes powerful remote access
concentrators that help enterprise and network service providers build remote networks of
any size, with virtually any combination of analog and digital carrier services. The MAX
TNT is a carrier-class WAN access switch that gives large corporations and network service
providers a high-capacity, multiservice platform for building high-density networks.
The MAX family is powered by Ascend's True Access Operating System (TAOS), the first
comprehensive software architecture for WAN access environments; enabled by NavisAccess,
the next-generation tool for managing dial access and frame relay concentration
environments; and implemented by Ascend's Global Integration Services (GIS), a newly
created business unit consisting of customer technical support and education, logistics,
and professional services. Ascend's combined capabilities enable the company to create
advanced access solutions like MultiVPN, MultiVoice and Carrier Signaling, as well as last
mile solutions, such as network wholesaling, Frame Relay concentration and MultiDSL.
"Ascend is delighted to be recognized as the continued leader in the remote access
hardware market," said Kurt Bauer, vice president, Access Product Management of
Ascend's Access Switching Division. "The findings of the Frost & Sullivan report
underscore our commitment to providing WAN access solutions that not only handle
skyrocketing network growth and demands but also enable our customers to offer services
that will keep them ahead of the competition."
Explosive growth of new Internet and public data network services is driving many
service providers to build next-generation networks to be used for offering high-speed
Internet access and backbone network services to accommodate increased data traffic. Eagle
Communications, a Network Wholesale service provider, is using Ascend remote access
concentrators to help it enable its service provider customers to buy network access and
backbone capacity which they in turn will resell to ISPs and enterprise customers.
"Ascend's access products are playing a key role in enabling us to build a
next-generation infrastructure that will result in a new level of service offerings for
both service providers and enterprise customers," said Kent Charugundla, president
and CEO of Eagle Communications. "Through technological innovation and marketing,
Ascend is helping us to extend our business model and expand our network so we can help
our ISP customers to extend their geographic reach, quickly and efficiently."
Reports from other research organizations further underscore the market leadership of
Ascend's MAX and MAX TNT families of remote access products. Ascend has been recognized as
the market leader for the first half of 1998 in the following markets: total worldwide
remote access server (RAS) concentrator revenue and ports shipped (International Data
Corp.); RAS concentrator end user revenue, manufacturer revenue and port shipments
(In-Stat); total remote access concentration, service provider remote access
concentration, and asynchronous port shipments (Dell'Oro Group); and access concentrator
factory revenue (Dataquest).
About Ascend Communications
Ascend Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASND) develops, manufactures, sells and services wide
area networking solutions for telecommunications carriers, Internet service providers and
corporate customers worldwide.
For more information about Ascend and its products, please e-mail to info@ascend.com. For Investor Relations, please call our
communications hotline at 800-648-3059 or 760-704-4423 (outside the US & Canada).
Additional investor information can also be accessed on our Investor Relations page.
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