Ascom Timeplex to install new frame relay network for Kyobo Insurance.

WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 31, 1995--Ascom Timeplex, a major manufacturer of enterprise networking solutions, recently signed a contract to install a frame relay network to over 150 branch offices of Kyobo Insurance. Kyobo, one of Korea's largest insurance companies, has over 1,000 branches, which it plans to connect to the new network in a continual expansion program.

When Kyobo Insurance decided to upgrade its existing IBM/SNA network from low speed 56K lines to a T1/E1 frame relay networks a prerequisite for the network equipment was its adherence to a new protocol for transporting SNA traffic over frame relay networks, known in the industry as RFC1490/FRF.3. Ascom Timeplex was the only vendor able to meet this strict customer requirement within Kyobo's required timeframe.

"Coming up with the RFC1490/FRF.3 feature was only possible through teamwork and a strong commitment to two of our core philosophies: being customer-driven and providing timely products," says Mr. BK Suh, General Manager, Korea.

By using its Integrated Access Node (IAN), Ascom Timeplex has brought together several product technologies for Kyobo's network, including access concentration, network-layer routing, and frame and packet switching onto a single networking platform. One benefit of the IAN solution is its ability to consolidate both LAN and legacy traffic over a single aggregate. Toward the end of this year, Kyobo Insurance will begin to install LAN-based networks throughout its branch offices. Under the terms of the agreement, Ascom Timeplex will interconnect these LANs across the entire Kyobo enterprise.

Through the use of EXPRESS ROUTING technology, a standard feature in all Ascom Timeplex internetworking products, the IAN provides an innovative solution for branch network consolidation. Pioneered by Ascom Timeplex, EXPRESS ROUTING is the solution to bandwidth-efficient, high-performance and easily managed multi-protocol networks, including those which use LAN and legacy data applications.

It was developed to enable LAN and legacy (mainframe-oriented) systems to be integrated onto a single network in such a way that each receives the quality of service it is engineered to expect while using bandwidth efficiently.

This unique transport architecture provides reliable interconnection of LAN traffic and supports prioritized delivery of SNA/SDLC data over the wide area using frame relay technolgy. Consolidating all data traffic onto one backbone means eliminating parallel networks, which will enable Kyobo Insurance to realize dramatic cost savings. The IAN provides extensive remote management capabilities as well, allowing upgrades, changes and troubleshooting to be routinely handled from Kyobo's central office site.

Suh notes, "Kyobo Insurance has told our distributor, KDC, that our LAN offers the best branch networking solution currently available on the market, especially where there is the need to transport mixed LAN/legacy traffic. It offers them the most flexible migration path to a more open and distributed computing environment. This is good news for their customers, who will, in the future, enjoy a wider range of insurance services delivered in a more timely fashion.

"Kyobo Insurance was also extremely concerned about the level and standard of available local support KDC scored highest here among all the competition," he adds. "We have consistently found technical services to be a very important additional factor in securing other accounts in the Pacific Rim." Asia has become Ascom Timeplex's fastest growing area of business.

About Ascom Timeplex

Ascom Timeplex is a recognized leader in networking systems and services, offering scalable enterprise internetworking solutions that unify LAN and WAN technologies.

Ascom Timeplex helps organizations manage business-critical, voice data and video traffic by providing solutions led by innovative network development, implementation and support services, based on scalable local and wide area network technology.

With its Pacific Asia headquarters in Hong Kong and worldwide headquarters in Woodcliff Lake, Ascom Timeplex offers global sales and service support for all its products in 70 countries on seven continents. Ascom Timeplex is an operating division of Ascom Enterprise Networks, a core business unit of Ascom Holding AG, Bern, Switzerland, an international telecommunications company with shares traded on the Zurich Stock Exchange.

CONTACT: Ascom Timeplex

Patricia Jachens Rohme, 201/391-1111

Tony Fisch, 818/501-6608