To All:
BRUSSELS, Dec 13 (Reuter) - Belgian partially-privatized
telephone operator <Belgacom SA> said on Friday it signed an
agreement with Sun Microsystems Inc (NASDAQ:SUNW) and Oracle Corp
(NASDAQ:ORCL) to develop the network computer idea in Belgium.
"It's a memorandum of understanding, the details of which
have to be refined...but we would like to house and operate the
central servers on which companies can put data and
applications," Alain Deneef, the head of Belgacom's multimedia
division, told a news conference.
Belgacom said it aimed to make decentralised office servers
in all of its 39 area codes accessible by high-speed ADSL links,
or from throughout the country via ISDN lines.
The group plans to begin trials using ADSL technology, which
allows normal copper wire telephone lines to be turned into
high-speed, two-way data networks, in the second quarter of
1997, Belgacom chief executive officer John Goossens said.
The computer technology used will rely on the network
computer concept.
The network computer is a slimmed-down personal computer
without disk or CD-ROM drives that pulls the software it needs
to run applications from a centrally located server.
Sun and Oracle claim this cuts down the cost to businesses
of running a PC network.
Belgacom is 49.9 percent owned by a consortium led by
Chicago-based Ameritech (NYSE:AIT). It includes Singapore Telecom
(SIN:TELE), Tele Danmark (CSE:TLD.B) and three Belgian companies.
The Belgian state owns the rest of the shares.
-- Brussels Newsroom +32 2 287 6810, Fax +32 2 230 7710 |
