Business Gas Reaps Benefits of Frame Relay by Extending N.E.T. Multiservice Backbone Network; 20 Percent Bandwidth Efficiencies Projected by Business Gas.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 27, 1995--N.E.T. today announced that Business Gas, a division of British Gas, will extend the capabilities of its N.E.T. IDNX multiservice backbone network with the addition of integral frame relay capabilities.

In addition to conventional voice traffic, the Business Gas IDNX network will now carry frame relay traffic cost-effectively on the same digital services. The migration to frame relay was made possible for a minimal outlay. The migration, which will be transparent to network users and managed centrally from the Business Gas Slough offices, provides an increase in bandwidth efficiency of approximately 20 percent.

The need to migrate to frame relay stems from a greater demand for bandwidth coupled with an increase in large overnight file transfers as Business Gas has grown. The decision to add frame relay capabilities to the multiservice backbone allows Business Gas to increase its competitiveness, building on the IDNX infrastructure and further enhancing the company's customer service.

The original Business Gas IDNX network was implemented in a very short six-month time frame at the time Business Gas was established in November 1994. The network was equipped with integral N.E.T. LAN/WAN Exchange (LWX) modules. The LWX module, a multiprotocol router based on Cisco router code, interconnects LAN-based, client-server applications at various Business Gas sites through the UK. This next phase of the network migrates this packet-switching module to frame relay while complementing the growth of an external Cisco router network.

"Business Gas selected N.E.T. because they were able to get an efficient and flexible digital "information highway" up and running for us within a very limited time frame, and they could provide us with the service and support that is crucial to the cost-effective management of our network," said Alan Martin, I.S. operations manager, Business Gas. "The N.E.T. solutions also offered a clear migration path to grow the network with the business, and this is what we are doing now."

The flexibility of the IDNX multiservice backbone has allowed Business Gas to benefit in several areas:

Increased control and flexibility -- bandwidth on demand allows large overnight file transfers to utilize the bandwidth across the network, while allowing daytime users to share resources and interactive applications.

Guaranteed quality of service -- control and prioritization allows each location to be assigned a level of service with a "guaranteed" level of throughput with capability to use more bandwidth when available.

Ease of migration -- the N.E.T. IDNX multiservice bandwidth manager is part of the N.E.T. Vista Architecture, a multiservice architecture for broadband and narrowband WANs. The Vista Architecture embraces extensions to emerging technologies such as ATM and platforms to provide true multiservice functionality.

Management and statistics -- detailed network statistics are provided in real time, offering a valuable planning tool for network managers utilizing the industry defacto standard SNMP.

"Business Gas needed a solution that would service their immediate and future needs, and we worked with them provide a scalable network infrastructure that would accommodate a variety of networking applications," said Andrew Gilbert, director, European Marketing, N.E.T. "Through our adherence to open standards, we protect our customers' investment by ensuring that the technology they implement today does not become the orphan technology of tomorrow."

The Future

Business Gas will also be able to take advantage of other current and future technologies. The company has the flexibility to add current ISDN QSIG capabilities to the backbone network or plan for the implementation of ATM in the future.

"We see no need for implementing ATM at the present time," added Martin. "Our new frame relay network will provide us with the level of functionality we need for minimal outlay, effort and disruption. However, as this emerging technology matures, we can reevaluate this option to implement ATM as the need arises."

Business Gas, a division of British Gas, was formed in 1994. The company will supply gas and related technical services to the industrial and commercial market following deregulation affecting the supply of gas to larger firms.

N.E.T., headquartered in Redwood City, Calif., is a leading worldwide supplier of multiservice backbone networks used by enterprises and global carriers in more than 50 countries. N.E.T. multiservice WANs integrate voice, data, and video traffic with frame relay, LAN internetworking and ISDN capabilities for today's mission-critical applications. The company is certified to the worldwide ISO 9001 standard for design, manufacturing and servicing. Join us at our worldwide web site: http://www.net.com for further information. -0- Note to Editors: N.E.T., Frame Relay Exchange and the N.E.T. logo are trademarks and IDNX is a registered trademark of Network Equipment Technologies, Inc. Financial Analyst Contact is Ann Candelario, N.E.T. Investor Relations, 415/780-5605.

CONTACT: N.E.T.

Paul Morrison, 415/780-5010