New Ascend frame relay router bundled with turnkey Internet solution from PSINet; EtherFrame router comes free with one-year subscription to PSINet InterFrame-56 frame relay Internet service

Business Wire, Feb 22, 1995

ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 22, 1995--Ascend Communications Inc., today announced that PSINet(R) (Performance Systems International Inc.) Herndon, Va., will bundle the new Ascend Pipeline EtherFrame(SM) router from Ascend Communications Inc., with its InterFrame-56 frame relay service promotion. The limited time offer provides low-cost, turnkey Internet access to LAN users in branch offices and in small- to medium-sized organizations at speeds up to 56 kbit/s.

The turnkey package, which costs $5,300, includes one year of frame relay Internet access at 56 kbit/s, an Internet address, domain name services and a USENET news feed. Also included is training, consultation and 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week network operations support directly from PSINet. Ascend's new Pipeline EtherFrame router, which retails for $1,695, comes free-of-charge with the package.

Frame relay, a fast-packet data communications technology, has been adopted widely in private and public wide area networks (WANs) because of its performance and flexibility. PSINet introduced its InterFrame(R) Internet access service in 1993. InterFrame allows companies to manage their Internet connection through Permanent Virtual Circuits (PVCs) so that bursty applications, such as USENET News and World Wide Web servers, do not congest the link to the point that higher network priorities cannot be served. InterFrame's Managed Internet PVCs(SM) also support secure connections between distributed sites on PSINet as well as supporting Committed Information Rate (CIR) services with bandwidth guarantees.

Ascend's Pipeline EtherFrame is an Ethernet-to-frame relay access router that comes standard with an internal DSU/CSU and supports frame relay transmission over up to two independent 56 kbit/s channels. One of the EtherFrame's channels can be configured as the primary PVC to the Internet; the second channel can be used to set up a PVC for USENET News. Ascend also provides EtherFrame software for its higher-capacity Pipeline 400 and MAX WAN access hubs.

"By bundling our EtherFrame router with its InterFrame promotion and installing our MAX WAN Access Hubs in its Points of Presence nationwide, PSINet has shown continued confidence in our advanced digital technology and helped contribute to our growing share of the Internet services marketplace," said Robert Ryan, Ascend's founder and chief executive officer. "For users seeking low-cost, high-speed Internet access for their businesses and organizations, our EtherFrame router and PSINet's InterFrame service is a combination that's hard to beat."

Ascend Communications Inc., develops, manufactures, sells and supports a broad range of high-speed digital wide area network access products. These products use bandwidth on demand to enhance and extend existing corporate networks for applications such as remote LAN access, Internet access, bulk file transfer, videoconferencing, imaging and integrated voice, data and video access. Ascend is headquartered at 1275 Harbor Bay Parkway, Alameda, CA 94502. Phone 510/769-6001; Fax: 510/814-2300; Email: info@ascend.com. Ascend's home page on the World Wide Web is http://www.ascend.com/.>For more information about how to get a free Ascend EtherFrame router with the InterFrame-56 promotion, call PSINet at 800/82PSI82 or 703/709-0300.

CONTACT: Ascend Communications

Jay Duncanson, 510/814-2303, jduncanson@ascend.com

Gallagher PR

Kevin Gallagher, 510/743-7830, 552-0989@mcimail.com

PSINet

Punam Jain, 703/904-4295, jainp@psi.com