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To: Gary Wisdom who wrote (39371)	3/16/1998 8:45:00 PM
From: Gary Korn	Respond to of 61433

3/16/98 Bus. Wire 08:22:00 (See BOLD) Business Wire Copyright (c) 1998, Business Wire Monday, March 16, 1998 World's Second-Largest Internet Content Provider Fujitsu/Niftyserve Joins GRIC Alliance to Offer Global Roaming Services to 3 Million Subscribers MILPITAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 16, 1998--GRIC Communications, Inc. announced today that Fujitsu/Niftyserve has joined the GRIC alliance to offer global roaming to its subscribers. Fujitsu/Niftyserve is the second largest Internet content provider in the world, with over 3 million subscribers. Traveling Fujitsu/Niftyserve subscribers can now log onto their Internet accounts through a local connection to the nearest GRIC-member ISP or telco anywhere in the world. This is easily accomplished by using GRICdial, the combination address book and dialer software installed on a person's portable computer. The cost savings are astronomical over making a long-distance telephone call back to Japan for account access, especially when staying in a hotel. GRIC users also avoid international phone lines that can corrupt or even lose data. "As the undisputed industry leader in Internet roaming, GRIC offers a valuable service to our customers that gives them substantial savings," said Kenji Furukawa, senior manager, Outsourcing Division, of Fujitsu Ltd. "GRIC Communications is the only Internet roaming provider on the market who could offer the reliability, quality of access, coverage and level of security requested by our traveling subscribers." "We're very honored and thrilled to be selected as Fujitsu/Niftyserve's roaming partner," said Dr. Hong Chen, president and CEO of GRIC Communications. "With the addition of Fujitsu/Niftyserve's 3 million subscribers, the GRIC alliance now represents over 16 millions subscribers and 20 million corporate customers who can enjoy our Internet telecommunication services." GRIC Communications is the leading clearinghouse for Internet telecommunications services. The company provides routing, authentication, network management, billing and settlement services to ISPs and telcos worldwide, enabling global Internet roaming, corporate remote access/VPN, fax, and telephony. GRIC-member ISPs and telcos number over 260 in more than 75 countries, and have a combined subscriber base of more than 16 million dial-up users and 20 million corporate users, making the GRIC alliance the largest managed network of Internet-based telecommunications services in the world. The GRIC alliance is comprised of the world's largest ISPs and telcos. In addition to Fujitsu/Niftyserve, members include NETCOM, Singapore Telecom, NEC, KDD/KCOM, SANNET, Malaysia Telecom, Telecom Finland, Korea Telecom, FranceNet, Cybernet AG, Hong Kong Telecom, Samsung, Hyundai, Chungwha Telecom, and Telstra. GRIC's technology partners include Ascend Communications, Bay Networks, Cisco Systems, Digital Equipment Corporation, Lucent Technologies, Microsoft, Oracle, and Siemens Business Communications. Founded in 1994 and privately held, GRIC Communications, Inc. has offices in California, Asia and Europe. For additional information, please contact GRIC Communications at 1421 McCarthy Blvd., Milpitas, Calif., 95035. Phone: 408/955- 1920. Fax: 408/955-1968. Email: info@gric.com. Worldwide Web site: http:// www.gric.com. Note to editors: GRIC and the GRIC logo are trademarks of GRIC Communications, Inc. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners. CONTACT: GRIC Communications, Inc. Jon Porter, 408/955-1920, ext. 1162 jon@gric.com 08:08 EST MARCH 16, 1998 ---- INDEX REFERENCES ---- NEWS SUBJECT: New Products & Services (PDT) Word Count: 444 3/16/98 BWIRE 08:22:00 END OF DOCUMENT

To: Gary Wisdom who wrote (39371)	3/16/1998 8:46:00 PM
From: FUZFO	Respond to of 61433

From CNET: This is old news, sorry "Panel: Networks getting crowded By Alex Lash Staff Writer, CNET NEWS.COM March 13, 1998, 11:35 a.m. PT LOS ANGELES--The invasion of "silicon cockroaches" is threatening to overwhelm our computer networks, an executive said at a lively Internet World panel discussion here today. Panelists Alan Taffel, UUNet's vice president of marketing and business development;Jeanette Symons, founder and chief technical officer of Ascend Communications; and Netcom chairman David Garrison addressed issues of network bandwidth and performance in the coming years. Taffel kicked off the 45-minute discussion with warnings about the proliferation of computer chips--"silicon cockroaches"--and their insatiable demands for network capacity. "Faxes, cell phones, PCs with modems--they now drive and eat bandwidth, and they're hungry and greedy," Taffel said. The explosion of data-based communications over networks has dramatically sped up Internet growth, he added. "Three years ago, we were proud that the Internet doubled every year," Taffel said. "Now it doubles every three to six months." That enormous growth has network service and equipment providers scrambling to keep up and reacting to the latest developments in content--video service, for example--that further increase bandwidth needs. "We sit back, shaking in nervousness, waiting to see what new applications are coming out to break the network," said Ascend's Symons, with a laugh. Ascend makes modems and other hardware to access and build the network infrastructure. Video was No. 1 on Netcom chairman Garrison's list of "wild cards" certain to affect future network performance. "It will have an enormous whipsaw effect," he said. That uncertainty is compounded by the fact that video services--from video phones in the 1960s to movies-on-demand in the 1980s--have gone bust, the panel noted. The speakers were equally wary of the promise of cable modems and the high-bandwidth services they promise. Unfortunately, there were no representatives from that industry to defend themselves. (See related story) Another trend that is hard to predict but certain to have an effect is Internet telephone service, which is beginning to offer low-cost long distance calls with promises of high quality. Garrison also noted that the "cockroach" problem won't go away. Network companies need to keep a close eye on future chip designs and how such devices use bandwidth. Another variable is the tradeoff between transporting and storing data. Regional providers are mulling over the possibility of keeping large caches of data on local servers to minimize long distance network traffic, Garrison said. "That's a lot like what Yahoo is doing now with its various regional services," noted panel moderator Jack Powers, vice president of conferences for Mecklermedia. As with most industry discussions these days, the panelists touched upon government regulation. UU Net's Taffel noted that IP-network telephone calls are so cheap in part because there aren't any access fees, but that could change. (At a recent high-tech investment gathering in San Francisco, however, President Clinton pledged to support legislation that would ban Internet taxation for six years.) Sending sound and video over the Internet is more likely to catch on in places where traditional access to those services is hard to find or expensive, said Ascend's Symons. Because of the dizzying array of service possibilities--local or national ISPs offering phone services, video, or Internet guides in various combinations--Garrison scoffed at the idea of a shakeout in the ISP market. "That's hogwash," he said. "In a few years, there will be twice the number there is today, but they'll become more specialized" according to vertical interest groups, geographical location, or levels of user expertise. One future trend the panelists all envisioned was higher costs to end users as more services are added to the Internet. "Eventually, somebody will pay for bandwidth," said Symons. "Somebody's installing equipment, somebody's putting in fiber...you'll have to pay somebody." "