CAC's Wide Bank 28 Now Provides TL1 Automatic Alarm Messaging.

BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 2, 1998--Carrier Access Corporation (NASDAQ:CACS), a leading provider of digital access solutions to competitive voice and data communications carriers, announced today that the Wide Bank 28 and Wide Bank 28/NEBS will provide Transaction Language One (TL1) automatic outbound alarm messaging.

This new feature will be standard and available in February 1999, on all Wide Bank(TM) products at no extra cost.

TL1 is a standards-based ASCII management language defined for TL1-based operations and support systems such as the Bellcore(R) NMA(TM) network monitoring and fault management system. With this feature, the Wide Bank will inter-operate with other network elements, managers and Operational Support Systems used to manage most of the broadband and access equipment in North America today.

"This enhances the Wide Bank standards-based leadership by offering automatic outbound alarm messages for TL1 managed networks. The Wide Bank will seamlessly integrate into TL1 alarm managed networks to provide notification of network and equipment conditions," said Kirkton Shoop, Senior Product Manager, Marketing.

"The EZT3, the ADC private labeled version of the Wide Bank 28, is truly plug-and-play allowing our customers to quickly install and turn-up multiple high speed DS1 facilities within their network. Now with TL1, they can easily monitor these network elements with internal TL1 status and management systems," said Roger Fraser, Program Manager at ADC Telecommunications.

Introduced in November 1997, the Wide Bank 28 family of products raises the bar for DS1-to-DS3 connectivity solutions. At only 1.75 inches (1 rack unit) high, it is one-third the size of traditional multiplexers. It is the first SNMP or Command Line Interface managed M1-3 Multiplexer. An integral Network Interface Unit (NIU) eliminates the expense and rack space of external NIU products. Internal Bit Error Rate testing on all DS3 and DSX-1 interfaces provides a new level of fault isolation and minimizes costly truck rolls. Robust redundancy, "hitless" automatic electronic protection switching for both DS3 and DS1 interfaces, and advanced performance monitoring are offered as standard features. Wide Bank 28 is the only M1-3 with CAC's patented solid-state fuse-less overvoltage protection. Additionally, the Wide Bank 28 meets FCC and UL1459 safety standards for customer premises installations, and is a fully connectorized M1-3 Multiplexer to minimize installation time.

About Carrier Access Corporation

Carrier Access Corporation is a leading provider of Multi-service Digital Access (MDA) equipment to competitive telecommunications carriers, including competitive local exchange carriers, Internet service providers, and wireless carriers. Carrier Access products are used in the digital last mile for the provisioning of enhanced voice and high-speed data services by carriers to businesses and government end users. CAC Access Bank and Wide Bank family products are connected to T1, HDSL, digital radio and T3 access transmission technologies. Additional information about CAC and its products can be found at www.carrieraccess.com.

About ADC Telecommunications

ADC Telecommunications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADCT) is a leading global supplier of voice, video and data systems for telephone, cable television, Internet, broadcast, wireless and private communications networks. ADC's systems enable local access and high-speed transmission of communications services from providers to consumers and businesses over fiber-optic, copper, coaxial and wireless media. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, ADC has approximately 7,800 employees around the world and annual sales of $1.3 billion. For additional information, visit our Web site at http://www.adc.com.