Saturn Global fills a frame relay niche; Service offer designed to meet the needs of small to mid-size businesses.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 18, 1997--Saturn Global Network (SGN) today announced a new frame relay service that meets the needs of small to mid-size multinational customers. An enhanced leased line service for point-to-point network applications, the new offering enables customers to take advantage of the benefits of frame relay service while still controlling costs.

The SGN frame relay service is a fully managed, global, end-to-end LAN-interconnection solution. It uses a cell relay-based technology and supports a variety of access technologies including native frame relay, X.25 and asynchronous protocols.

"This offer is an important addition to the SGN Global Managed Services portfolio," said Jon Polonez, General Manager of North American Operations for SGN. "Existing frame relay offers were not providing small to mid-size multinational customers with the types of service and features they need at prices they could afford. We designed our service to meet the specific needs of these customers."

SGN enables customers to integrate existing X.25 and asynchronous protocol technologies with efficient frame relay technologies by interconnecting a customer's Local Area Network (LAN) with routers into SGN's wide area network (WAN). The service provides both the high speed and low delay of TDM circuit switching and the statistical multiplexing of X.25 packet switching. In addition, when an SGN-supplied edge node device is used, customers can utilize a single network connection to provide both dedicated voice and data services.

"Unlike traffic generated in terminal-to-host computer networks, LAN traffic moves in bursts of data. These traffic bursts can overload older WAN link technologies like X.25," Polonez added. "Our service offer readily accommodates the bursty nature of these LAN applications and still helps customers to control costs by enabling them to run dedicated voice and data services over a single network connection."

Westpac Banking Corp., of Sydney, Australia, the first bank of Australia and a provider of agribusiness, commercial, business and personal banking, and international services, is one of SGN's key frame relay customers. Westpac is using the new frame relay service to connect its New York, London and Sydney locations.

SGN's frame relay offer also includes Committed Information Plans and end-to-end Service Management. Committed Information Plans define the minimum amount of bandwidth available for each circuit. When network traffic allows, customers can benefit from a higher available bandwidth and burst beyond their Committed Information Rate (CIR). SGN's high-speed services network design enables SGN to guarantee CIR while providing for bursts of traffic on the access line, above the minimum dedicated CIR. SGN offers a wide range of information rates to meet specific customers needs.

SGN's Service Management provides customers with a flexible network and service management solution. Customer networks are monitored 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at no extra cost. Management plans are also available for all customized applications where SGN controls and monitors customer networks.

"Small to mid-size businesses typically do not have the personnel or budgets to support network management and control from an international perspective," Polonez added. "We provide around the clock support, a help desk with 800 number access and local customer support."

The new service offer is also priced for the small to mid-size business customer. Customers pay a flat monthly rate for a fully managed end-to-end solution that includes access, port and network charges and can select single or multiple location billing in the currency of their choice.

Saturn Global Network Inc. is an end-to-end supplier of fully managed solutions providing voice, fax, and broadband data services to customer locations throughout the U.S, Europe, Australia and Asia. It offers Ethernet and token-ring LAN interconnect and frame relay access services. SGN is a wholly owned subsidiary of MW Marshall and Company Limited of London. To obtain more information on SGN's products and services, customers can call [phone] or visit SGN's website at www.saturnglobal.com.

CONTACT: CDC 

Christine Corliss, 201/364-0868

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