Ascend Communications Inc, Alameda, California, has launched its first DSL digital subscriber line products line for 128 Kbps Internet access. The product family, called MultiDSL, is designed to alleviate bottlenecks in copper cable networks by transmitting data over a data network that is separate from the voice network. First to ship will be an eight -port line card for the MAX 4002 remote access product, which can be used with existing ISDN terminal adapters. This will be followed by line cards for its 4004 and MAX TNT multi-protocol wide area network access switches and the DSLPipe family of customer premises products. These will include the new DSLPipe family of high-speed bridges and routers, which will connect digital subscriber line users in small or home offices to enterprise networks or the Internet. The company said it plans to launch a further range of office products supporting DSL that vary in bandwidth from 128 Kbps to 6 Mbps early next year. In addition to ISDN, MultiDSL – which was developed in conjunction with MFS Communications Co Inc and UUNet Technologies Inc, – includes products designed to support existing DSL implementations. They use Point-to-Point and Frame Relay transport layers which facilitate interoperability with Ascend’s Pipeline and NetWarp products, says the company. As a partner in the initial project, MFS says it roll out its own product line in the first quarter of next year. The eight-port ISDN Digital Subscriber Line card for the MAX 4002 and 4004 multiprotocol wide area network access switches is available now for $3,000. The 12- port ISDN Digital Subscriber Line card for the MAX TNT carrier- class wide area network access switches is priced at $4,200 and will be available in March 1997.
