One of the world's fastest growing Internet providers, UUNET Technologies selects Cascade switches to build next-generation Internet infrastructure; Delivers superior speed, scalability, reliability and Quality of Service, key requirements for mission-critical business applications.

WESTFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 30, 1995 -- Cascade Communications Corp. (NASDAQ:CSCC) today announced that it was awarded a $6.6 million dollar contract from UUNET Technologies, who has developed a next-generation Internet infrastructure, specifically designed for commercial users and based on the Cascade B-STDX multiservice switch family. UUNET also selected CascadeView, the industry's first distributed multiserver WAN management system, for its rapidly expanding Internet services.

Developed as the primary infrastructure for UUNET's high-speed commercial services, UUNET's new Internet infrastructure leverages the benefits of frame relay switching through Cascade B-STDX's best-in-class features. The new network delivers key requirements for mainstream business users, including: high speed, scalability, enhanced reliability, increased capacity, cost efficiency, uncompromising quality of service, and comprehensive management.

Increased Demand for UUNET Internet Services Boosts Net Capacity Requirements

Since its founding in 1987, UUNET has experienced phenomenal growth. Its customer base has grown to over 8,000 commercial and professional accounts. To meet increasing demand, UUNET is expanding local Internet access services from over 105 cities today, to 200 cities (including 20 outside the U.S.) by December 1995, and 300 cities by December 1996. This will require a much larger, higher capacity Internet infrastructure.

Rearchitecting UUNET's Core Internet Infrastructure

To meet explosive demand for services and grow its network, UUNET realized that it needed to overcome the limitations that make large TCP/IP-based network expansion difficult and expensive. These limitations arise primarily in the core of the network, rather than at the edges.

"We needed to introduce a switching fabric between the routers, eliminating the cost, complexity and performance penalty of multiple hops through intermediary routers," stated Kevin Boyne, UUNET's director of engineering and operations. "We also required cost-effective, high-speed bandwidth management and lower-speed customer access. After evaluating Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) and frame relay, as well as equipment from leading router and switch vendors, we chose the Cascade B-STDX 9000 due to the product's high scalability and flexible architecture."

Since frame relay is a simple protocol at Layer 2, with a header having just two bytes containing a virtual circuit number and a few control bits, it offers a simple, high-performance packet switching solution without the high overhead of ATM cells. Frame relay also offers connection-oriented network service. Rather than determining the path of each packet independently, the switch establishes a path between the end points, increasing performance and efficiency.

"Router-based networks, such as the Internet, are growing rapidly," stated Daniel E. Smith, Cascade president and CEO. "Deploying frame relay at the core allows these networks to continue to scale to support a greater number of users. We are pleased to be partnered with a leading provider of Internet services and to be selected as a key component of UUNET's next-generation Internet infrastructure."

UUNET's Next-Generation Internet Infrastructure

To meet emerging Internet requirements, UUNET rearchitected its network from a public ATM-based network to a higher-capacity frame relay-based network backbone comprised of 45 Mbps DS3 leased lines. The Cascade infrastructure has been installed in parallel with the existing router network. Over time, equipment in the router network is being transitioned to serve as feeders to the Cascade B-STDX 9000 via DS3 connection in major cities. Frame relay now serves as the trunking infrastructure, enabling the removal of the public ATM backbone. This new network infrastructure provides UUNET with the ability to quickly and easily scale its new Internet infrastructure to meet increasing user demand.

"We realized switching with the Cascade B-STDX would improve performance, reduce equipment costs, enhance Quality of Service, increase reliability and manageability, and allow us to scale to meet future demands," said Boyne. "Within the next 12 to 15 months, we plan to have at least a 60 node network using Cascade B-STDX 9000s," he said. "It will cover the United States pretty thoroughly."

Cascade's B-STDX switch family is the industry's first multiservice wide area network switch that simultaneously supports frame relay, Switched Multimegabit Digital Service (SMDS) and ATM on a single platform. The 16-slot, fully-redundant switch provides the industry's highest port density and highest network capacity. The Cascade switch also features the highest frame relay speeds in the industry, ranging from 9.6 Kbps to 45 Mbps.

Headquartered in Fairfax, VA, UUNET Technologies, Inc., is a leading provider of a comprehensive range of Internet access options, World Wide Web hosting services, security products, and consulting services to businesses, professionals, and on-line service providers. The company's network is comprised of points of presence throughout the U.S., as well as connections to Internet service providers around the world. Founded in 1987, UUNET is recognized as the first commercial Internet service provider and the official access provider to The Microsoft Network. UUNET can be reached at (800) 4UUNET4, via e-mail at [e-mail], or at the WWW home page at http://www.uu.net.

One of the world's fastest growing data communications companies and price/performance leader in frame relay, Cascade Communications of Westford, Mass. is a global provider of wide area networking products for the enterprise and public carrier network markets. The pioneer of multiservice WAN switches, Cascade delivers enterprise-ready switches and network management solutions that enable customers to seamlessly integrate existing technologies with ATM for cost-effective network expansion and investment protection. Cascade's STDX and B-STDX multiservice WAN switches and the recently introduced Cascade 500 ATM switch offer the highest scalability and network capacity in the industry. Worldwide, private and public networks such as BellSouth, Bridge Information Systems, GTE, Pacific Bell, US West, LDDS WorldCom, and British Telecom rely on Cascade products for unparalleled quality of service and high-performance WAN services.

CONTACT: Maureen Liberty/Patty Anderson

Neva Group, Inc.

617-441-4000

or

Bob Machlin,

Cascade Communications

508-692-2600

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Cascade Investor Relations 

508-692-2600, Ext. 2552