Ascend Communications
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Communications equipment |
| Founded | 1988 |
| Defunct | 1999 |
| Fate | Acquired by Lucent Technologies |
| Successor | Lucent Technologies |
| Headquarters | Alameda, California , United States |
| Products | MAX TNT dial-up hardware, ISDN modems and concentrators, NetStar routers, Cascade Communications switches, DSLPipe product line, Stratus Technologies fault-tolerant computer systems and Service Control Point technologies |
| Parent | Lucent Technologies (from 1999) |
Ascend Communications, Inc. was a manufacturer of communications equipment located in Alameda, California, which was acquired by Lucent Technologies in 1999.
Established in 1988 and going public in 1994, the company’s initial backers included Kleiner Perkins, Greylock Partners, and New Enterprise Associates. Ascend focused on producing high-density dial-up hardware, especially the MAX TNT product line that efficiently aggregated a DS3 worth of dial-up connections into compact rack-mounted units. During the dial-up internet era, prominent clients like AOL, Earthlink, and UUnet collectively procured more than two million dial-up ports from the MAX TNT servers. Additionally, Ascend was recognized as a leading supplier of ISDN modems and concentrators throughout the mid-1990s.
The company grew through strategic acquisitions; in 1996, it bought NetStar, a Minnesota-based firm known for ultra-high-performance backbone routers capable of 16 Gbit/s throughput. The following year, Ascend acquired Cascade Communications, a company renowned for its dense carrier packet switches such as the B-STDX9000 frame relay switch and CBX/GX ATM switches—integral elements in most RBOC Frame Relay and ATM infrastructures during the 1990s and beyond.
To meet increasing broadband demand, Ascend introduced the DSLPipe product line in February 1997. In August 1998, it acquired Stratus Technologies for $822 million in stock; Stratus specialized in fault-tolerant computer systems and Service Control Point technologies essential for integrating voice and data networks. After Lucent's acquisition, the server division was divested to private equity firms and continues to operate under the Stratus Technologies name.
In 1999, Lucent Technologies completed a $24 billion merger to acquire Ascend—then the largest technology merger recorded. Ascend’s shares were traded on Nasdaq under the ticker ASND. Several executives from Ascend went on to establish Zhone Technologies.
See also
External links
- Articles with short description
- 1988 establishments in California
- 1999 disestablishments in California
- 1999 mergers and acquisitions
- American companies established in 1988
- American companies disestablished in 1999
- Companies based in Alameda, California
- Computer companies established in 1988
- Computer companies disestablished in 1999
- Defunct computer hardware companies
- Defunct networking companies
- Defunct manufacturing companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area
- Defunct telecommunications companies of the United States
- Lucent Technologies
- Networking hardware companies
- Technology companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area
- Telecommunications companies established in 1988
- Telecommunications companies disestablished in 1999
- 1994 initial public offerings
- Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq
- Defunct computer companies based in California