Ascend Continues to Lead ATM and Frame Relay WAN Switching Markets According to Eight Leading Market Research Firms

Business Wire, June 23, 1999

ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 23, 1999--

Ascend Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq:ASND) a leader in wide area networking (WAN) and Intelligent Network (IN) solutions for providers and users of the next-generation public network, today announced that the latest figures from several analyst groups confirm the company's continued number one position in numerous WAN switching market segments.

Reports from Cahners In-Stat and Synergy Research Group covering the first quarter of 1999, as well as 1998 reports from Dataquest, Dell'Oro Group, International Data Corp. (IDC), Probe Research, Ryan Hankin Kent (RHK) and Vertical Systems Group illustrate Ascend's ongoing market lead in asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), Frame Relay and WAN switching (combined ATM and Frame Relay) categories.

ATM Leadership

Ascend continues to gain momentum in the ATM market, leading the ATM to service providers category in virtually every report. Ascend leads the ATM to service providers market by as much as 15 percentage points. The leading market share figures include 29.6 percent (Cahners In-Stat, Q1 '99 data), 23.2 percent (Dataquest, 1998 data), 37.6 percent (Probe Research, 1998 data), 33 percent (RHK, 1998 data) and 34.4 percent (Synergy Research, Q1 '99 data).

"Ascend's performance demonstrates the success of its strategy to concentrate exclusively on service providers, the most rapidly growing segment for ATM WAN equipment," said Laurie Gooding, WAN switching analyst, Cahners In-Stat. "According to our research, Ascend has outpaced overall market growth in the service provider segment for several consecutive quarters."

Multiservice WAN Switching Leadership

Ascend's continuing gains in the ATM market are also adding to the company's lead in multiservice WAN switching. Ascend is the unanimous leader in multiservice WAN switching to service providers ranking number one in every report covering the market. Ascend leads the multiservice WAN switching service provider market by as much as 15 percentage points with market shares such as 33.5 percent (Cahners In-Stat, Q1 '99 data), 26.9 percent (Dataquest, 1998 data), 26.3 percent (Dell'Oro, Q4 '98 data), 26.7 percent (IDC, 1998 data), 42.1 percent (Probe Research, 1998 data), 36.9 percent (Synergy Research, Q1 '99 data) and 26.4 percent (Vertical Systems, 1998 data).

Frame Relay Leadership

Ascend's perennial dominance in the Frame Relay market continues. Once again, Ascend has been recognized as the runaway leader in the Frame Relay to service providers market, nearly tripling the market share of the nearest competitor in certain reports. Ascend's market shares include 40.3 percent (Cahners In-Stat, Q1 '99 data), 31.9 percent (Dataquest, 1998 data), 38.9 percent (Probe Research, 1998 data), 44.1 percent (Synergy Research, Q1 '99 data) and 32.5 percent (Vertical Systems, 1998 data).

The dominant leads in the service provider segments also led to Ascend's continued number one position in the overall Frame Relay market with shares of 27 percent (Cahners In-Stat, Q1 '99 data), 24.3 percent (Dataquest, 1998 data), 26.8 percent (IDC, 1998 data), 27.4 percent (Probe Research, 1998 data) and 29.3 percent (Synergy Research, Q1 '99 data).

"We believe that our core switching products offer the most comprehensive solutions in the industry," said David Misunas, vice president, marketing and product management, Core Systems Division, Ascend Communications. "We continue to develop technology that caters to the needs of our service provider customers. We are constantly reminded of our goal to serve this market as our products are continually added to service providers' core networks."

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 visit the Ascend Web site at http://www.ascend.com www.ascend.com, or send 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 Web site at: http://www.ascend.com/investor/. Ascend is headquartered at One Ascend Plaza, 1701 Harbor Bay Parkway, Alameda, Calif. 94502; phone is 800/ASCEND4 and fax is 510/814-2300.

In January 1999, the Company entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the "Merger Agreement") with Lucent Technologies, Inc. ("Lucent"), pursuant to which, each outstanding share of Ascend common stock will be exchanged for 0.825 shares of Lucent common stock and each outstanding option or warrant to purchase Ascend common stock will be converted into an option or warrant to purchase Lucent common stock (adjusted for the exchange ratio).

In February 1999, Lucent announced a two-for-one stock split, payable on April 1, 1999, to shareholders of record as of March 5, 1999. Under the terms of the Merger Agreement, the exchange ratio will be adjusted for the effect of this stock split and any similar changes in the capitalization of Lucent.