Cable & Wireless selects StrataCom switches for new intercontinental ATM trial.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 21, 1994--An ATM network trial to link two continents, scheduled to begin by the end of December 1994, will be based on a StrataCom BPX backbone.

Global service provider Cable & Wireless says its ATM trial will initially link London and New York, the world's most important financial centers. Links to Hong Kong and Tokyo may be added next year. BPX, StrataCom's broadband ATM switch, is currently being trialed in both private networks and by major carriers worldwide.

The trial will provide ATM services, operating at 45Mbps, to three major financial institutions, allowing them to trial innovative applications such as multimedia communications, as well as new methods of providing existing voice and data services in more cost effective ways.

Cable & Wireless says it chose StrataCom's BPX because of its sophisticated functionality and confidence in StrataCom's unrivaled expertise in cell switching technology. Commented Rob Fisher, "We felt confident that the advanced features of StrataCom's BPX ATM switch was capable of meeting the technical demands of the trial such as multiple classes of service and sophisticated congestion management which we believe are essential for a successful ATM service."

Cable & Wireless believes that ATM has the potential to change the way business is done, both at a global and local level. Rob Fisher, director of products and services at Cable & Wireless Business Networks, said: "We will be working closely with our customers to ensure that we can gain an understanding of the commercial advantages of ATM.

"We will also work with third party hardware vendors, such as StrataCom, software and sector market specialists, and members of the Cable & Wireless Federation to develop and supply advanced network services to international businesses."

StrataCom has led the field in the development of cell switching since the company's formation in 1986. StrataCom is an active member of the ATM Forum, an industry body working to develop standards for the new technology. StrataCom's expertise was validated by the ATM Forum's recent acceptance of the rate based method of traffic control, which is the basis of StrataCom's ForeSight algorithm for congestion management and flow control.

StrataCom Inc. (NASD:STRM), based in San Jose, develops, delivers and supports FastPacket networking systems for multiband ATM applications in private wide area networks and public carrier service offerings, such as Frame Relay and ATM.

StrataCom's family of products, including FastPAD, IPX, and BPX are used to integrate and transport a wide variety of corporate information, including voice, data, video, LANs, image and multimedia traffic in narrowband to broadband ATM network applications. -0-

Note to Editors: IPX, FastPacket and StrataCom are registered trademarks and BPX, ForeSight and FastPAD are trademarks of StrataCom Inc.

ForeSight is a cell-based, closed loop feedback mechanism which continuously monitors the utilization of ATM trunks and adjusts bandwidth of all virtual connections accordingly. It ensures maximum bandwidth to all connections while provocatively avoiding the possibility of queuing delays and discarding cells: both potential situations in ATM networks that do not have such a feedback mechanism. In addition to ForeSight, the BPX includes software with mature functionality such as adaptation interfaces to convert voice, video, data and frame relay traffic into cells; cell queuing and class-of service prioritization; automatic route selection and re-routing.

CONTACT: StrataCom

             Barbara Burdick, 408/494-2003
             Jane Dick, [phone]