Ascend Archive
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: (ASCEND) The MAX TNT



The TNT is and will continue to be the right machine for us ISP's who 
have to deal with more than 4 pri's, let's use our POP in Augusta for 
example,  it has 6 PRI's all of which are under one NFAS GROUP this 
cannot be done with two max 4004's because you can't share D 
channels across more that one machine, Ascend has the market share of 
the larger ISP'S and will continue to have the market share,  The 
costs to keep up with technology will prevent the MOM and POP ISP's 
from expanding and upgrading to more modern equipment, Banks have 
also found out that the ISP business it REAL HARD and even more 
cut-throat than average business. Most banks will NOT TOUCH a mom and 
pop ISP any more because they have been burnt on the foldings, You 
can just about tell who the next MOM and POP is that will fold, They 
will be the lowest in town, they will be selling below their actual 
cost per subscriber, and will be bragging about how they will be able 
to take over the world.  In Augusta GA we have seen  seven ISP's go 
out of business because they could not get a handle on expenses and 
continued to sell unlimited INTERNET below their cost per subscriber,

George Carden
 

On Sat, 18 Oct 1997, Jason Nealis wrote:

>  In my opinion, The TNT does hold the future for Ascend. This is 
> their next generation product to battle both USR and LIVINGSTON's
> new line of items to hit soon. If they fail with the TNT I'm sure
> the Stock will show it. 
> 
>  Look at the reports from Bloomberg and other financial inst's. They
> all refer to problems with the TNT's.

In a broader scope- I think the MAX TNT hasn't been as widely selling for
one reason only.  The last boardwatch index of ISP's listed over 17,000
ISPs (the actual number may be around 5,000- I didn't count duplicates in
their weighty index.)  The short of it is- there are a bloody lot of ISP's
out there.  Fortunately, the demand for internet access is over the top of
the charts.  It doesn't cost much to start up an ISP.  The "mom and pop"
shops out there have a few hundred subscribers and tons of pots lines into
their home/office.

As customer expectations rise for value-added services, and companies
demand faster connections, more reliable hardware, etc etc- the smaller
ISP's are going to go under.  (PM2's are going to be _real_ cheap next
spring.)  The signs of a shakeout are already here.

I think the TNT is going to be very appealing for the ISP's who survive
the shakeout.  I personally would rather administer one TNT rather than
a dozen MAXes.  (Think back to the last time you upgraded all your MAXes.)
It's just like the step from desktop modems, or cheesy racks of basically
the same thing to an integrated device like the max 4000.  Instead of
upgrading each modem individually, we now upgrade a whole chassis of
anywhere from 24 to 72 modems in a MAX 40xx.

To put all this together, in my (nsh) opinion the TNT is going to be the
product of choice in the next six months or so.  The ISP's who can't
scale themselves to meet the demand of the internet access market will
crumble.  This will lead to fewer, but bigger ISP's.  Because of the
nature of the equipment- it will make more sense to get a TNT, rather than
a max 40xx every other week.  Ascend is ahead of the race to get carrier
class hardware out the door- so the reports of problems with the TNT are
normal.  Remember 4.6Cp(fill in the blank)?  If you judged the MAX 40xx's
-today- on 4.6C code, other vendor's hardware would look a hell of a lot
better.

In short- I think the TNT sales have been low because the demand for
"carrier class" hardware just isn't that strong...  yet.  (But it will be,
and soon.)

-Will

P.S.  I could be wrong, though.

++ Ascend Users Mailing List ++
To unsubscribe:	send unsubscribe to ascend-users-request@bungi.com
To get FAQ'd:	<http://www.nealis.net/ascend/faq>
++ Ascend Users Mailing List ++
To unsubscribe:	send unsubscribe to ascend-users-request@bungi.com
To get FAQ'd:	<http://www.nealis.net/ascend/faq>


References: