New IAD from ADTRAN Simplifies Voice/Data Convergence for Small and Medium Businesses.

Business Editors

ComNet 2000

Booth No. 856

WASHINGTON, D.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 25, 2000

New Compact ATLAS 550 Rounds Out Market-Leading Family of Modular

and Scalable Integrated Access Devices and Provides

Affordable TDM-to-Packet Migration Strategy

ADTRAN, Inc. (Nasdaq:ADTN), the market leader in Enterprise Integrated Access Devices (IADs), introduced today the ATLAS 550 -- the first IAD to combine voice switching, TDM access and packet switching in a compact modular platform. This intelligent IAD converges voice, data, video, and Internet traffic onto one or two T1 circuits for transmission over Frame Relay, TDM, or hybrid networks. With the introduction of the ATLAS 550, small to medium sized businesses finally have an IAD just their size with all the functionality of broadband platforms. This scalable device also offers a simple migration strategy for network evolution.

&uot;The ATLAS 550 comes standard with Frame Relay and support for analog voice interfaces,&uot; said Tim Saunders, ADTRAN's Director of Product Management, Enterprise Networks Division. &uot;It also offers the ability to migrate to additional packet technologies such as ATM and voice over IP.&uot;

&uot;The ATLAS 550 has given us more voice capacity than our previous solution plus added Intelligent Call Routing. With the ATLAS 550 we were able to replace three products in our network -- a channel bank, a FRAD, and a CSU/DSU,&uot; said Bobby Baine, General Manager of Phillips Communication and Equipment.

The ATLAS 550 is a lower capacity six-slot version of ADTRAN's market-leading ATLAS 800 PLUS, an eight-slot IAD supporting voice, data and video applications at up to T3 rates over dedicated and switched networks. Similar to the ATLAS 800 PLUS, the ATLAS 550 functions as a Frame Relay concentrator/switch, TDM access multiplexer, and voice/ISDN switch.

As a host site device, the ATLAS 550 complements ADTRAN's Express(TM) series and members of the TSU(TM) family. As a remote site device, it is the perfect companion for the ADTRAN ATLAS 800 series at the host. The ATLAS 550 also allows users to connect to existing customer premises equipment such as a PBX, key system, router, LAN equipment, remote access server, and video-conferencing equipment, all dynamically sharing bandwidth that is normally dedicated.

The ATLAS 550 provides additional investment protection through its modular design, allowing plug-and-play migration for &uot;grow-as-you-go&uot; networking. It has four general-purpose expansion slots and two network interface option slots, supporting one or two T1 connections to the carrier network.

Available interface option modules include a Dual V.35 module, an Octal FXS module, an Octal FXO module, and a Dual T1/PRI module. A T1 Network Interface module is offered for accessing the carrier network, which can be installed in either one or both of the network interface option slots. Voice compression over Frame Relay or TDM networks is supported using the Voice Compression module, available in configurations from eight to 30 ports.

Data traffic is processed using the ATLAS 550's built-in IP router, with its 10/100 BaseT connection. Or, data traffic can be passed to an external router through a V.35 connection. The ATLAS 550 offers extensive remote diagnostics and monitoring capabilities, including ADTRAN's IQ Frame Relay performance monitoring support. All application software can be remotely downloaded into the product using TFTP.

The ATLAS 550 can be configured to dynamically allocate bandwidth between voice and data traffic, providing more speed to the data traffic while voice calls are not in progress. It also uniquely switches voice traffic onto either the Frame Relay network or a TDM circuit, based on the telephone number that was dialed. This feature allows voice calls to be transported toll-free across the Frame Relay network, while all other calls are switched to the public network connection.

The ATLAS 550 is scheduled for February shipments at a list price starting at $2,995 (base unit).

About ADTRAN

Established in 1985, ADTRAN, Inc. is a leading provider of deployment and access solutions for carrier and enterprise networks. ADTRAN technologies support more than two million local loops worldwide. More than 500 ADTRAN products support all major digital technologies, including T3, T1, E1, Frame Relay, DDS, HDSL, HDSL2 xDSL, ISDN, and wireless transport. According to Dataquest and IDC, ADTRAN holds revenue-leading positions in the Integrated Access, Frame Relay/DDS, ISDN Extension and HDSL/T1/E1 markets. ADTRAN customers include the Regional Bell Operating Companies, interexchange carriers, GTE, domestic independent service providers, corporate end users, international customers and original equipment manufacturers.

For more information, contact the company at 800/9ADTRAN (800/923-8726) or via e-mail at [e-mail]. On the web, visit www.adtran.com.