Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Ascend Communications-News Only!!! (ASND) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: blankmind who wrote (1001)	1/21/1998 7:50:00 PM
From: Maverick	Respond to of 1629

Lucent and 3Com end 56Kbps modem feud By James Niccolai InfoWorld Electric Posted at 5:55 PM PT, Jan 20, 1998 Lucent Technologies and 3Com. announced on Tuesday they will work together to ensure interoperability between their 56Kbps modem products, ending a long-standing dispute that has dogged the high-speed analog technology since last year. Until now, Lucent has urged users to adopt its K56flex technology, while 3Com has been promoting the incompatible x2 alternative. Tuesday's agreement to develop compatible products will make purchasing decisions easier for consumers, who will no longer have to worry about whether they are using the same technology as their Internet service provider. The companies will use an emerging industry standard referred to as V.pcm, the companies said in a statement. V.pcm was proposed in December by an International Telecommunications Union (ITU) working group, and is expected to be approved at a plenary meeting of the ITU in Geneva, Switzerland, Feb. 5 and 6, the companies said. "Neither 3Com nor Lucent wanted to give up its proprietary technology ... but now that we know what V.pcm is going to look like, it makes sense to do so," said Lucent spokesman Mike Jacobs. Both 3Com and Lucent expect to have interoperable products on the market shortly after the ITU's February meeting, as well as software upgrades to make existing K56flex and x2 modems compliant with the new standard, the statement said. Lucent makes chip sets that go into 56Kbps modems but not the modems themselves, and could not say whether the upgrades will be free or not. "That will be up to the modem makers, but I can tell you that everything out there containing K56flex is software-upgradable," Jacobs said. 3Com could not immediately be reached for comment.