"IP telephony, in which voice and facsimile traffic is carried on Internet networks,
is one of the fastest growing telecommunications markets, with expected
revenue of $4 billion this year according to International Data Corp. IDC estimates
that by 2002, the Internet will carry 11 percent of U.S. and international long
distance traffic."
Hitachi and Lucent Technologies' elemedia Form
Alliance to Co-Develop and Co-Market IP Telephony
Technologies
May 20, 1999
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE) via NewsEdge Corporation -- Hitachi
Semiconductor (America) Inc. (NYSE:HIT) and elemedia, a wholly-owned venture
of Lucent Technologies (NYSE:LU), today announced they have formed an
alliance to co-specify, develop and market Internet Protocol (IP) telephony
technologies and reference platforms.
Through the agreement, elemedia and Hitachi will share technologies in the
areas of embedded CPU (Central Processor Unit) design, and embedded signal
processing and communications protocols. They will also combine their
complementary development and marketing resources to bring new technologies
to market.
Reference platforms resulting from the alliance promise to speed time-to-market
for feature-rich and cost-effective IP telephony products, such as commercial and
residential gateways and portable consumer appliances.
IP telephony, in which voice and facsimile traffic is carried on Internet networks,
is one of the fastest growing telecommunications markets, with expected
revenue of $4 billion this year according to International Data Corp. IDC estimates
that by 2002, the Internet will carry 11 percent of U.S. and international long
distance traffic.
"elemedia's technologies combined with Hitachi's SuperH(R) RISC processors,
which provide both Internet Protocol (IP) and signal processing capabilities, will
enable the next wave of industry leading IP telephony solutions," said Phil
Thomas, vice president, Strategic Alliances for Hitachi Semiconductor (America)
Inc. "This alliance will help make Voice-over-IP a reality for both corporations and
consumers, and supports our goal of making SuperH processors the engines of
choice for next-generation networking."
Initial applications as a result of this alliance will include client and server
gateway platforms utilizing elemedia's H.323-based IP telephony and modem
software as well as Hitachi's SH-3DSP and SH-4 processors. elemedia provides
high-quality solutions for the Internet telephony and multimedia market. Hitachi
will immediately begin work to embed elemedia's IP telephony software and
technology in its line of SuperH processors.
"This agreement will create strong solutions for IP telephony applications," said
Joe Mele, president of elemedia. "elemedia is widely recognized for its leadership
in IP telephony software that's backed by Bell Labs technology and Lucent's
networking prowess. Together with Hitachi, we'll be able to reach many current
and emerging markets with technology that will allow anyone to enjoy the
benefits of IP telephony, anywhere and at any time."
elemedia, one of the first venture companies launched by Lucent, markets
software platforms used in the development of carrier-grade systems and
applications for IP telephony. elemedia's focus is on providing the highest-quality
software for transport, network management, and intelligent network features in
the IP domain.
The elemedia family of products is based on Bell Laboratories research. For
more information on elemedia, visit the web site at elemedia.com
Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, N.J., designs, builds and
delivers a wide range of public and private networks, communications systems
and software, data networking systems, business telephone systems and
microelectronic components. Bell Labs is the research and development arm for
the company. For more information on Lucent Technologies, visit the web site at
lucent.com
About Hitachi Semiconductor (America) Inc.
Hitachi Semiconductor (America) Inc. -- a subsidiary of Hitachi America, Ltd., in
turn a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT) -- supports the requirements of the
North American marketplace with a broad range of standard and low power
semiconductor solutions. Offering some of the industry's most popular RISC
microprocessors and memory components among other semiconductor
solutions, Hitachi provides chips to the world's leading device manufacturers
within industrial, consumer and emerging market applications.
The Company's substantial design engineering, research and development
facilities in the United States help bring the world's best technology to U.S.
customers. For more information, visit semiconductor.hitachi.com.
<<Business Wire, 05-19-99, 07:59 Eastern>>
CONTACT: The Weber Group for Hitachi Semiconductor (America) Inc. | Jill
Shanks, 650/463-8625 | jshanks@ca.webergroup.com | or | Lucent Technologies
| elemedia | David Bikle, 908/582-4120 | dbikle@lucent.com
[Copyright 1999, Business Wire]
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