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Hayes Revolutionizes PC Communications With ADSL Modems That Transfer Data 100 Times Faster Than The Fastest Analog Modem For Only $250
PR Newswire - October 08, 1997 07:02
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Hayes to Deliver Multi-Megabit Access to Internet, Entertainment and Business
Services Through the Use of PPP and ATM Technologies
ATLANTA, Oct. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Communications industry pioneer Hayes
Microcomputer Products, Inc. today announced it will show a prototype of its
Hayes(TM) ADSL network interface card (NIC) at Fall '97 Networld + Interop in
Atlanta, Georgia, from October 8 through 10. Hayes is developing an ADSL
(Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line) NIC for release in Q1 '98 in a
collaborative effort with Alcatel Telecom to deliver ADSL products to
consumers.
The Hayes NIC will enable users to connect their computer to the existing
telephone network, serving virtually all homes and businesses, at more than 6
megabits per second.* It allows customers to interact with data networks, the
Internet and associated services at speeds more than 100 times faster than
today's fastest analog modems. The Hayes NIC card will sell for an estimated
street price of US$250, making megabit speeds accessible to both businesses
and consumers.
"In order to support our collaboration with Alcatel to provide ADSL modems
to consumers, Hayes had to ensure pricing of the NIC started at the consumer
level. This is an unusual occurrence for a new technology. Usually prices
start out high initially, and as more and more people adopt the new
technology, the prices come down," said Michael Peck, Manager, xDSL
Technologies Group. "However, because of our arrangement to provide ADSL
modems to Alcatel's U.S. telephone company customers and other customers
worldwide, we have, in essence, an installed base of customers, allowing us to
start shipping this powerful new technology at a consumer-level price right
out of the gate."
In order to facilitate wide-scale deployment of ADSL services, Hayes and
Alcatel, one of the world's leading telecommunications equipment
manufacturers, announced, in July, a strategic partnership with the goal of
developing, manufacturing and marketing products and equipment based on ADSL
technology. Alcatel has been selected by a U.S. telephone company group
consisting of Ameritech, BellSouth, Pacific Bell and Southwestern Bell
Telephone Company (formerly known as the Joint Procurement Consortium) as
supplier of ADSL high-speed data access equipment. Alcatel also has won bids
globally to supply ADSL products, including Singapore Telecom in Asia and
Telia in Sweden.
Market observers expect ADSL will be used by hundreds of thousands of
customers by the end of 1999 and by more than a million customers by the year
2000. For telecommunications companies, ADSL technology allows the copper
twisted pair connections to the customer to become a significant value-added
venue.
"ADSL is the vehicle information system managers have been waiting for!"
said Alan Adamson, Hayes Director of Broadband. "Up until recently, the only
way to interconnect LANs across a WAN was by using expensive leased lines.
These dedicated leased lines are often idle because the leasor doesn't have
enough traffic to fill the lines. Because the lines are expensive, adding
small offices or employees' homes on the LAN has, up until now, been too
expensive for practical application. The ATM technology supported by the
Hayes NIC card cuts costs by chopping the telco resources into small chunks
called 'private virtual circuits' (PVCs). These PVCs can connect small
offices and employees' homes to corporate LANs at a fraction of the leased
line cost making 'virtual LANs' across the wide area network possible."
Consumers benefit from the Point to Point Protocol (PPP) over ATM
supported by the Hayes NIC, which enables seamless connectivity to Internet
Service Providers (ISPs). PPP is the protocol used by most ISPs to transfer
data to end-users; thus, the Hayes ADSL NIC will enable Internet surfers to
easily jump from kilobit speeds to megabit speeds.
Hayes, the company that invented personal computer communications via the
modem, recently entered into a reverse merger agreement with Access Beyond
(Nasdaq: ACCB), a maker of remote access servers. The enlarged new company,
to be renamed Hayes Communications, Inc., will carry the strong Hayes brand
into high tech-growth market opportunities such as lower-cost remote access
communications servers, cable modems and ADSL. The merger is expected to
close before the end of the year.
Based in Norcross, Georgia, Hayes markets its ULTRA(TM), ACCURA(TM),
OPTIMA(TM), Practical Peripherals(TM), Cardinal(TM) and CENTURY(TM) brands of
modems, remote access servers, cable modems and terminal adapters along with
Smartcom(TM) communications software worldwide. Today, with distributors in
more than 45 countries, it is one of the largest manufacturers of modems in
the world. For more information about Hayes and the company's award-winning
product lines, visit the Hayes Web site at hayes.com.
Hayes, the Hayes logo, ULTRA, ACCURA, OPTIMA, Practical Peripherals,
Smartcom, and CENTURY are trademarks or registered trademarks of Hayes
Microcomputer Products, Inc. Cardinal is a trademark of Cardinal
Technologies, Inc. Other trademarks are trademarks of their respective
companies.
* Throughput rates will vary based on the customer's distance from the
telephone provider. End-users should achieve 6.144 megabits downstream and
64OK upstream within 12,000 feet of the central office. (ANSI T1.413 - 1995
Network and Customer Installation Interfaces -- Asymmetrical Digital
Subscriber Line (ADSL) Metallic Interface).
"Safe Harbor" statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995: This release contains forward looking statements that are subject to
risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the impact of
competitive products and pricing, product demand and market acceptance, new
product development, reliance on key strategic alliances, availability of raw
materials, the regulatory environment, fluctuations in operating results and
other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
SOURCE Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc.
/CONTACT: Media: Kerri Dimke, Public Relations Manager, 770-840-9200,
ext. 6091; Fax: 770-840-6825, or email: kdimke@hayes.com; Product: Michael
Peck, Manager, ADSL Product Line, 770-840-9200, ext. 6540; Fax: 770-840-6808,
or email: mpeck@hayes.com, both of Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc./
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