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SBC
Communications, ASSIA Enter Joint Development and Licensing Pact to
Develop "DSL Optimizer" for Enhanced Broadband Platform
Companies
Collaborate to Improve Next-Generation DSL Performance
Nov. 15, 2005
SAN ANTONIO, November 15,
2005 -- SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE: SBC), announced today that
its SBC Knowledge Ventures and SBC Network Planning and Engineering
units have signed a three-year agreement with Redwood City, CA-based
ASSIA, Inc. to develop and license technologies and intellectual
property to help manage and enhance the performance of the next
generation of DSL broadband services.
ASSIA, Inc. (or Adaptive Spectrum and
Signal Alignment, Inc.) is a two-year-old company created to design
and build high-performance telecommunications software tools that
help to optimize speed, enhance applications, and reduce costs for
service providers of digital subscriber line (DSL) services. The
company is headed by John Cioffi, a renowned expert in DSL
technology, who also is a professor of electrical engineering at
Stanford University.
ASSIA and SBC companies, the nation's
largest provider of DSL service, intend to jointly develop a "DSL
Optimizer" software tool with dynamic spectrum management
capabilities for implementation in the SBC network. The new tools
will help SBC companies monitor and automatically allocate spectrum
for data transmission to further enhance DSL performance for
customers. DSL Optimizer will complement SBC's industry-leading
Broadband Tools, developed internally, which have dramatically
improved DSL performance and continues to lower SBC costs.
Once developed, the new software and
intellectual property will be exclusively marketed by ASSIA to other
DSL service providers around the world.
Add
One/SBC Communications-ASSIA
"This is very exciting for us," Cioffi
said. "SBC Communications is the leader in DSL delivery in the U.S.,
and is an ideal association for us. SBC has extensive experience in
managing DSL networks, lowering operating costs, and continuously
improving performance for its customers. So, to associate with SBC
Knowledge Ventures and SBC Network Planning and Engineering is
indeed an honor and a great opportunity."
Chris Rice, executive vice president, SBC
Network Planning and Engineering, said this collaboration will help
SBC companies further reduce operating costs across its DSL network,
and increase DSL network data rates.
"SBC companies are dedicated to delivering
new innovations in broadband, and a key part of that effort is
development of tools that improve our service quality and
efficiency," Rice said. "Working with ASSIA will expand our
capabilities to develop and deliver new software that enhances our
DSL platform. We look forward to working with John Cioffi and his
team."
For more
information, contact: Wes Warnock , SBC Communications Inc.
(214) 665-1336, wes.warnock@fleishman.com
About SBC
SBC Communications Inc. is a Fortune 50
company who subsidiaries, operating under the SBC brand, provide a
full range of voice, data, networking, e-business, directory
publishing and advertising, and related services to businesses,
consumers and other telecommunications providers. SBC holds a 60
percent ownership interest in Cingular Wireless, which serves more
than 52 million wireless customers. SBC companies provide high-speed
DSL Internet access lines to more American consumers than any other
provider and are among the nation's leading providers of Internet
services. SBC companies also now offer satellite TV service.
Additional information about SBC and SBC products and services is
available at www.sbc.com.
About ASSIA, Inc.
ASSIA, Inc (Adaptive Spectrum and Signal
Alignment Incorporated) is the leading company, providing
high-performance software tools, in an emerging high growth
marketplace referred to as DSM (Dynamic Spectrum Management). ASSIA's
technology and software employ several adaptive learning methods to
characterize each DSL line, the various employed modem products, and
the local and overall DSL network to reduce operational costs for
the Service Provider, increasing DSL network data rates and thereby
raising customer satisfaction. Additional information about ASSIA,
Inc. and its products and services is available at
www.assia-inc.com.
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