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Ascend Communications and ATCOM/INFO Announce Development
Alliance; Ascend and ATCOM Team to Make It Easier for Telcos, ISPs
and CLECs to Sell DSL Internet Access to Hotels and MDUs

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SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 22, 1999--ATCOM/INFO and Ascend Communications today
announced an agreement to jointly develop an integrated, high-speed, plug-and-play Internet access
solution for hotels and Multiple Dwelling Units ("MDUs", which include office and apartment blocks). 

The solution, expected to be released in the fourth quarter of 1999, will make it much easier for Telcos,
ISPs and CLECs to sell DSL into hotels, apartment blocks and offices by reducing their installation and
management costs and minimizing any management load on the property owners. The agreement covers
the integration of Ascend's MultiDSL for Service Provider products with ATCOM/INFO's IPORT family of
Internet access software. 

The agreement will lead to reduced management costs for service providers and property owners because
IPORT's advanced service provisioning features will enable hotel guests and apartment residents to
choose the Internet access and billing process they require without intervention. Ascend's family of
products provide service providers with maximum flexibility in building solutions for their customers
because they support all major variants of DSL including IDSL, ADSL and SDSL. 

"DSL is clearly going to be a winner in Internet access," said Ashok Dhawan, general manager, High
Speed Access for Ascend. "Integrating our DSL MAX 20 and DSL TNT access concentrator products with
ATCOM's software gives us one of the most complete broadband access solutions available for the MDU
market, and will further encourage the adoption of DSL by making it much easier for service providers to
sell differentiated services into hotels, apartment blocks and offices." 

"Ascend is one of the major players building the Internet infrastructure, and this agreement gives us
access to their technology and worldwide customer base," said Steve Nye, ATCOM/INFO's chief
executive officer. "The solution will succeed because it gives service providers what we call the 4Ps of
high-speed Internet access: plug and play; provisioning; policy management; and portal." 

The joint solution from ATCOM/INFO and Ascend will be easy to install -- it is plug and play at both the
end user's PC and for the DSL modem. The solution will be able to provision grades of service without
intervention from the service provider or building manager, reducing maintenance costs and improve
service to customers. To give service providers and property owners flexibility, it will be able to manage
price, billing method and web provisioning policies on a port-by-port basis. For example, executive hotel
rooms can have free Internet access while other rooms charge for use. Finally, it will enable properties to
build their brands and offer extra services to its guests or tenants by providing a portal that users must
pass through to reach the Internet. 

Two of Ascend's access products are tailored to the needs of MDUs: the DSL MAX(TM) 20, for small and
medium-sized installations; and the DSL TNT(TM), for large installations. Ascend's DSL MAX 20 WAN
access switch is a compact and cost-effective Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) access concentrator that
enables service providers to offer tiered services based on speed and application requirements of their
users. The DSL TNT(TM) is a carrier-class access concentrator with integrated routing that gives large
corporations and network service providers a high-capacity, multiservice platform for building high-speed
access networks. 

About ATCOM/INFO 

Based in San Diego, ATCOM/INFO is the leading provider of services and software for public high-speed
Internet access. ATCOM/INFO Internet systems are targeted for use in public facilities and the hospitality
market segment throughout the United States and the world, including airports, hotels, convention centers
and other public areas. 

ATCOM/INFO's mission is to provide superior software products and services for information delivery to
users in public places. This includes pay-per-use public Internet ports (IPORT Internet Access System),
kiosk management software and custom software solutions designed to meet specific customer needs.
For more information on ATCOM/INFO, please call 619/699-4003, fax at 619/699-4040, or visit their Web
site at http://www.atcominfo.com. 

     CONTACT:  Connors Communications 
               Chris Evenden, 212/807-7500                  
               [email protected]          
                    or
               ATCOM/INFO
               Sal Provenza, 619/699-4000 ext. 246   
               [email protected] 

     



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