Westell Technologies Develops ISOFault; New Product Delivers Economical Remote DSL Line Testing.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers AURORA, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 19, 2002 Westell Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :WSTL), a leading provider of broadband access See broadband and wireless broadband. solutions, today announced it has developed the first product to permit unmanned local loop end-to-end definitive testing of Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL DSL in full Digital Subscriber Line Broadband digital communications connection that operates over standard copper telephone wires. It requires a DSL modem, which splits transmissions into two frequency bands: the lower frequencies for voice (ordinary ), which dramatically reduces the need for costly field dispatches by telephone companies. Westell's ISOFault(TM) - Fault Isolation Device and Spirent Communications' REACT(TM) allows a single remote access control center technician to effectively perform testing tasks that previously required coordination between a central office technician and field technician dispatched to the demarcation point The location within a home or office where the lines from the telephone company connect to the customer's lines. . "The ISOFault device represents yet another Westell product specifically designed and developed to reduce costly maintenance dispatches in the telephone companies. Our joint effort with Spirent Communications to offer this technology demonstrates our commitment to provide products our customers can use to control and reduce maintenance expenses and finger pointing of un-bundled services," said Brian G. Powers, Vice President, Marketing. Westell and Spirent Communications joined in developing a technology to remotely perform double-ended tests for line loss. Until now, transmission engineers performed a double-ended test to measure loss (attenuation Loss of signal power in a transmission. Attenuation The reduction in level of a transmitted quantity as a function of a parameter, usually distance. It is applied mainly to acoustic or electromagnetic waves and is expressed as the ratio of power densities. ) as the best way to determine how a twisted copper pair will transmit its intended service. To accurately perform this type of test, a technician is dispatched to the central office location and another technician is dispatched to the demarcation point. This expensive and time consuming troubleshooting required two craftsmen, coordination of work assignments and at least one truck to roll. Today, double-ended testing on metallic loops can be done without the costly expense of dispatches to either the central office or the demarcation point and can be automated to run during low usage hours. "Westell clearly understands DSL and it is the only company to provide a product that meets the network requirements and equipment function for this application," said Kurt Bradtmueller, product line director. "We are very pleased with the joint efforts to provide this technology to address the DSL line maintenance cost of Telcos." Westell's ISOFaultDSL allows service providers to isolate residential or small business facilities from the local loops so that testing can take place on a quiet line. ISOFaultDSL will completely disconnect the customer equipment and wiring from the network. It will then return toward the network, a series of nine wideband tones at 0db so that insertion loss can be measured at each frequency. In addition, ISOFaultDSL provides quiet termination to facilitate more accurate single ended testing to determine bridge tap and load coil locations. "Our combined technology provides network operators much needed cost and time efficiencies that can be leveraged for an improved bottom line," said Jim Schleckser, president of Spirent Communications' Service Assurance Broadband division. Westell is also making available an ISO (1) See ISO speed. (2) (International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland, www.iso.ch) An organization that sets international standards, founded in 1946. The U.S. member body is ANSI. Fault product for definitive testing of POTS Lines. This fault isolation device tests a POTS circuit for continuity and performance. The device isolates the customer's in-house wiring from the local facility and enables open ended testing from the central office. Model ISOFaultDSL and Model ISOFault (POTS Lines) are immediately available for shipment to customer and are undergoing testing in customer labs. Information about the new Westell ISOFault products is available at www.westell.com. About Westell Westell Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: WSTL) headquartered in Aurora, Illinois is a broadband access solutions company that provides leading broadband products, service solutions, and conferencing solutions for carriers, service providers and business enterprises around the world. Westell delivers innovative, open broadband solutions that meet our customers' needs for fast and seamless broadband connection. Conference Plus, a Westell subsidiary, offers conferencing services including voice, video, and IP data conferencing, to carriers and multi-national corporations throughout the world. For more information visit www.westell.com. About Spirent Communications Spirent Communications is a worldwide provider of integrated performance and analysis and service assurance systems for next-generation network technologies. Spirent's solutions accelerate the profitable development and deployment of network equipment and services by emulating real-word conditions in the lab and assuring end-to-end performance of large-scale networks. www.spirentcom.com Spirent Communications is a wholly owned business group of Spirent plc, an international network technology company. Spirent plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange London marketplace for securities. It was formed in 1773 by a group of stockbrokers who had been doing business informally in local coffeehouses. (ticker: SPT (Sectors Per Track) The number of sectors in one track. ). The company is also listed on the New York Stock Exchange New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) World's largest marketplace for securities. The exchange began as an informal meeting of 24 men in 1792 on what is now Wall Street in New York City. (ticker: SPM SPM - Sequential Parlog Machine ; CUSIP number CUSIP Number An identification number assigned to all stocks and registered bonds. The Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures (CUSIP) oversees the entire CUSIP system. Notes: This system is used in the U.S. and Canada. : 84856M209). www.spirent.com. "Safe Harbor Safe Harbor 1. A legal provision to reduce or eliminate liability as long as good faith is demonstrated. 2. A form of shark repellent implemented by a target company acquiring a business that is so poorly regulated that the target itself is less attractive. " statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) implemented several significant substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation and awards fees and 1995: Certain statements contained herein including, without limitation, statements containing the words "believe," " on track, " "anticipate," "committed" "expect," "estimate", "await," "continue," "intend," "may," "will," "should," and similar expressions are forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These risks include, but are not limited to, product demand and market acceptance risks, need for equity financing Equity Financing The act of raising money for company activities by selling common or preferred stock to individual or institutional investors. In return for the money paid, shareholders receive ownership interests in the corporation. , the economic downturn in the U.S. economy and telecom market, the impact of competitive products or technologies, competitive pricing pressures, product development, excess and obsolete inventory Obsolete Inventory Term that refers to inventory that is at the end of its product life cycle and has not seen any sales or usage for a set period of time usually determined by the industry. This type of inventory has to be written down and can cause large losses for a company. due to new product development, commercialization and technological delays or difficulties (including delays or difficulties in developing, producing, testing and selling new products and technologies), the effect of Westell's accounting policies, the need for additional capital, the effect of economic conditions and trade, legal social and economic risks (such as import, licensing and trade restrictions) and other risks more fully described in Westell's Annual Report on Form 10-K Form 10-K A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information. Form 10-K See 10-K. for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2002 under the section "Risk Factors". Westell undertakes no obligation to release publicly the result of any revisions to these forward looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. |
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