Ascend's Advanced MultiVPN Solution Leads VPN Market; Frost & Sullivan Report Confirms Market Leadership for Company's Comprehensive MultiVPN Solution.

ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 5, 1998--Ascend Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq:ASND), the leader in wide area networking (WAN) solutions for providers and users of the public network, today announced leadership in the U.S. Virtual Private Network (VPN) router/switch market, according to a recent report by Frost & Sullivan. The report is testament to Ascend's commitment to providing best-in-class MultiVPN solutions for service provider and enterprise customers.

According to Frost & Sullivan, Ascend held the largest share of the market with 28.0 percent in 1997, based on its installed base of the MAX(tm) WAN Access Switch and Pipeline router product lines, as it applies to Virtual Private Remote Networking (VPRN). Ascend's MultiVPN solution also incorporates Virtual Private Trunking (VPT) and Virtual IP Routing (VIPR), to provide the most comprehensive and cost-effective VPN solution in the marketplace.

The VPN market grew at a rate of 119 percent in 1997 and is forecasted at a compound annual growth rate of 104.1 percent through 2004, according to the report. The study also shows that Ascend was the only company among the top four industry vendors in this rapidly growing market that increased its market share in 1997. Frost & Sullivan concluded that major competitors lost market share because they continued to supply router-based VPN options when the market demanded router/switch combinations. Ascend is the only primary vendor offering a router/switch combination solution.

"Ascend's aggressive marketing to ISPs enabled them to gain market share in 1997," said Suresh Joseph, Frost & Sullivan analyst. "The company claimed the number one position and increased its market share by creating the industry's most comprehensive VPN solution."

"This report reflects our dedication to providing innovative, value-added services and solutions to our leading-edge customers," said Kurt Bauer, vice president, Access Product Marketing. "Our MultiVPN solution leads the market for two reasons: it provides service providers with a clear path to profitable, value-added services, and it enables enterprise customers to cost-effectively optimize the Next-Generation Public Network. Extending our MultiVPN solution to encompass advanced ATM, Frame Relay, and IP services will sustain our market leadership going forward."

Ascend's Advanced MultiVPN Solution

As a component of Ascend's Access Solutions, MultiVPN cost-effectively and securely extends enterprise customers' network to the Next-Generation Public Network, while creating additional value-added, revenue-generating opportunities for service providers. Through advanced features, including the Customer Network Management (CNM) Gateway, Service Level Agreement (SLA) Reporting, and IP Navigator with VPN routing, Ascend's MultiVPN solution ensures high-availability and high-reliability VPN infrastructures.

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 www.ascend.com, or send e-mail to [e-mail]. 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/662.html. Ascend is headquartered at One Ascend Plaza, 1701 Harbor Bay Parkway, Alameda, Calif. 94502; phone is 800/ASCEND4 and fax is 510-814-2300.

The foregoing statements may contain forward-looking statements that are based on current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from these expectations as a result of factors including, but not limited to, the Company's success in developing, introducing or shipping new products, competition, the mix of distribution channels employed, the Company's dependence on single or limited source suppliers for certain components used in its products, risks inherent in international sales, seasonality and general economic conditions. These and other factors are discussed in Ascend's 10-K, 10-Q and other filings made periodically with the Securities and Exchange Commission.