Ascend Communications and India's Telecommunications Infrastructure Supplier, CDOT, Forge Alliance to Deliver Intelligent Network Solutions.

ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 11, 1998--

Companies to Market Intelligent Networking and Enhanced Services

Solutions for Wireless and Wireline Carriers

in Asia Pacific and Globally

Ascend Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq:ASND), a leader in wide area networking (WAN) and Intelligent Networking (IN) solutions for users and providers of the next-generation public network, and India's telecommunications research and development organization Center for Development of Telematics (CDOT) today announced an agreement to cooperatively develop and market IN solutions to wireless and wireline carriers. The solutions will incorporate CDOT's IN switching systems and Ascend's IN infrastructure software and fault-tolerant, signaling computer platforms.

Under the agreement, Ascend and CDOT will deliver IN and enhanced services solutions tailored to telecommunications customers' specific requirements. The solutions will be built using Ascend's standards-compliant, telecommunications infrastructure software products -- a full UNIX-based implementation of SS7 IN protocols, and a comprehensive service creation environment used for designing and deploying Service Control Point (SCP)-based services.

The standards supported include ITU (International Telecommunications Union) CS1 (Q.1213 and Q.1214), ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute), INAP (Intelligent Network Applications Platform), and AIN 0.1 (Bellcore Advanced Intelligent Network) specifications.

In addition, the IN solutions will run on the Ascend Signaling Gateway, a fault-tolerant computer system specifically designed for central office environments and SCP solutions. CDOT will provide Service Switching Point (SSP) and other switching elements through its IN switch family and IN applications.

"Our joint efforts with Ascend in the development of IN applications and the interoperability test of our IN switch and Ascend's fault-tolerant SCP platform have produced excellent results," said K.N. Gupta, CDOT's chief executive officer and executive director of R&D.

"We have entered into the new working relationship in order to sustain this momentum. We view this agreement as extremely important to our company and customers. It strengthens our ties with a premiere IN platform provider and gives our telecommunications customers rapid access to IN solutions for delivering the high-quality, continuously available services their subscribers demand."

"Combining CDOT's IN switch and IN applications with our industry-leading fault-tolerant, signaling computer platform brings unprecedented system availability to telecommunications providers in an industry where reliable and continuous operations are a primary requirement," said Bruce Sachs, executive vice president and general manager of Ascend's Carrier Signaling and Management business unit.

"This relationship demonstrates our commitment to delivering leadership Intelligent Network solutions through strategic partnerships to better meet the needs of wireline and wireless carriers."

Ascend and CDOT have worked together to demonstrate interoperability between the CDOT IN switch and the Ascend SCP platform. Diverse sample applications such as virtual private network (VPN), prepaid calling card service, E800/Freephone, premium rate, universal access number, and televoting have been demonstrated to various telecommunications carriers in India.

Initial IN service applications developed under the agreement will be marketed in India. The companies intend to jointly pursue additional IN opportunities in Asia Pacific and worldwide.

About C-DOT 

Center for Development of Telematic (CDOT) is located at New Delhi, India. Its core product, CDOT Digital Switching System, has more than 40 percent of Indian switch market. CDOT has provisioned over six million subscriber lines of equipment and has been growing at an annual rate of greater than 50 percent since its establishment.

CDOT provides a range of telecommunications products cover: SPC Digital Switching System, SDH, GSM, ATM, access network, IN, multimedia communication, synchronous network equipment, STP, TMN, Internet access products and ISDN customer premises equipment. CDOT's products have been installed in 15 overseas markets including Africa, Central Asia, Eastern Europe and Russia. For more information, visit CDOT on the Internet at http://www.cdot.com.in.

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 U.S. & 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.