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To: Wolverine who wrote (35107)	2/17/1998 9:39:00 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Respond to of 61433

3Com, Rockwell complete 56K interoperability testing By Carmen Nobel, PC Week Online 02.17.98 6:11 pm ET 3Com Corp. and Rockwell Semiconductor Systems today announced completion of interoperability testing of their respective implementations of the new ITU V.90 standard for 56K-bps modems. Engineering teams from 3Com and Rockwell tested their respective chip sets to determine interoperability, with each company providing access to servers for reciprocal dial-in, connecting and data transfer. The ITU V.90 modem standard was approved Feb. 5 in Geneva. V.90 modems are supposed to enable connection speeds of 56K bps, although standard phone lines usually slow that speed down. "The successful interoperability testing indicates that we are both compliant with the V.90 standard," said John McCartney, president of the Client Access Business Unit at 3Com, based in Santa Clara, Calif. "We are extremely pleased with this progress and look forward to providing Internet service providers, corporate customers and consumers with universally compatible 56K service." "Rockwell and 3Com made a commitment to ensure and expedite worldwide interoperability of modem products based on the V.90 standard," said Dwight Decker, president of Rockwell Semiconductor Systems in Newport Beach, Calif. "To have completed the testing process and achieve successful results over the past few weeks is a consummation of that commitment to the industry, ensuring that consumers can buy 56K modems with confidence." Some industry members are wary of this announcement, saying that it takes more than a couple of weeks to prove complete anything. "I think what we're talking about is completion of a handshake," said Keri Dimke, a spokesperson for Hayes Corp. in Norcross, Ga., which uses chips from both Rockwell and Lucent Technologies. "Completion of true interoperability takes time." In conjunction with the interoperability announcement, 3Com wasted no time and began riding the wave of V.90 by shipping a raft of standard-compliant modems. The first compatible products from 3Com are the 5686 internal and 5687 external data/fax modems from 3Com's U.S. Robotics subsidiary. "Being first to market with a V.90 modem is a major competitive advantage for 3Com," said Lisa Pelgrim, senior analyst at Dataquest Inc., in San Jose, Calif. "Again, 3Com has proved that it is the market leader and it will likely reap the rewards as demand for standard-based interoperable 56K modems erupts." 3Com's initial V.90 products support both V.90 and 3Com's proprietary x2 technology, as it will take awhile for Internet service providers to switch over to the standard. Existing 3Com 56K bps modems are upgradable to V.90 via a simple software download. Upgrades for all U.S. Robotics 56K-native desktop modem products will be available through a free software download from the 3Com Web site at www.3com.com within the next few weeks. Details on 3Com's upgrade program to V.90 can be found on the Web site or by calling 1-888-IWANT56.