AT&T Begins Nationwide Frame Relay Network Upgrade - Largest Upgrade In Industry Provides Enhanced Network Functionality, Capacity and Performance; Expands Frame Relay-to-ATM Service Interworking -

Business Wire, July 9, 1996

BASKING RIDGE, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 9, 1996--AT&T, the world leader in frame relay services, announced today that it has begun the largest frame relay network upgrade in the industry, with completion projected for November.

The upgrade provides AT&T customers with enhanced frame relay network functionality, capacity and performance. It expands their ability to connect seamlessly, not only their frame relay sites, but also sites running other networking protocols, at higher data rates through AT&T's ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) backbone network. The network upgrade will use StrataCom's BPX and AXIS switches throughout the frame relay network, working in tandem with AT&T-developed maintenance, capacity management, provisioning and monitoring systems.

"This network upgrade-which will increase network traffic-handling capacity by 30 times-will bring AT&T customers far-reaching benefits," said Joe Lueckenhoff, product vice president, InterSpan Data Communications Services. "Enhanced network reliability, accessibility and scalability will provide increased options when designing applications for wide-area frame relay networks-all while protecting customers' existing frame relay investments."

The upgrade represents an evolution that will strengthen AT&T's frame relay services. Replacing the current T1 network with a new T45 network architecture enables AT&T to immediately offer true 1.5 Mbps bursting capabilities (the ability to send bursts of data at a greater-than-normal rate), with the ability to increase to faster speeds in the future. The new architecture also will allow AT&T to provide additional network protection through direct-dial-to-frame backup service.

Full-Scale Test Network Implemented in Parallel to Existing Network

Before beginning actual deployment, AT&T Labs built the full-scale network and tested it to thoroughly analyze how it responded under ever-increasing traffic loads and patterns. These tests will ensure that the throughput requirements of mission-critical customer applications can be met, and that the network can expand quickly and flexibly to meet exploding market demands for frame relay and internet applications support.

ATM Core Addresses Future Network Growth

"AT&T has clearly recognized the value of deploying an ATM core to address the phenomenal growth of its InterSpan Frame Relay services," stated Alex Mendez, vice president, Marketing, StrataCom. AT&T InterSpan Services is a family of business data services, including dial-up, frame relay and ATM services. For customer information on any of AT&T's data services, visit AT&T's home page at http://www.att.com/dcs/.>StrataCom, Inc. (NASD:STRM), based in San Jose, Calif., develops, delivers and supports FastPacket networking systems for ATM applications in private wide area networks and public carrier service offerings, such as Internet, frame relay and ATM. Visit StrataCom's home page at http://www.stratacom.com. -0-

FastPacket, and StrataCom are registered trademarks and BPX and AXIS are trademarks of StrataCom, Inc.

CONTACT: David Thompson, AT&T

908-221-4178 (Business)

908-575-8516 (Residence)

800-258-0000, PIN 288-7101 (Pager)

OR

Lisa Orlandini, AT&T

908-221-2935 (Business)

212-593-6368 (Alternate Business)

lorlandini@attmail.com (E-mail)