Plaintree Systems Joins Gigabit Ethernet Alliance to Further Networking Standards and Interoperability; Plaintree Executives Tapped for Technical and Steering Committees

Business Wire, June 24, 1996

OTTAWA, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 24, 1996--Plaintree Systems Inc., a leader in Fast Ethernet LAN switching products, today announced it has joined a multi-vendor effort committed to driving the industry's adoption of networking standards. The Alliance, aimed specifically at providing customers with open, interoperable Gigabit Ethernet solutions, supports the CSMA/CD (Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection) protocol of the Ethernet standard.

"Plaintree's decision to join the Gigabit Ethernet Alliance affirms our commitment to the frame-switched LAN environment," said Bruce Walter, president, Plaintree Systems. Plaintree's multi-segment Gigabit Ethernet switches will be released later this year. When combined with Plaintree's existing, leading 100Mbps and 10Mbps switching products, our upcoming 'top-of-network' Gigabit switch offerings will offer the most comprehensive end-to-end frame switching solutions for enterprise networks available today."

Plaintree's involvement in the Gigabit Ethernet Alliance includes both technical and marketing support for the multi-vendor forum. David Delaney, Plaintree's chairman and director of product development will serve on the Technical Committee and Alan Greenfield, Plaintree's senior vice president of marketing and sales, will serve as a member of the Steering Committee within the Alliance focusing on strategy and policy.

The Alliance is concerned with issues closest to IS managers and purchasers of leading-edge technologies, such as cost savings, bandwidth capacity, response times, and overall hardware reliability. By leveraging customer relationships and utilizing in-house research and development, Plaintree, along with other member companies, will work to establish standards which will support both the corporate IS manager and end user in their efforts to adapt to constantly changing networked environments.

"The Alliance supports the adoption of industry-wide standards for Gigabit Ethernet technology currently being developed by the 802.3z standards committee of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical And Electronics Engineers) organization. In addition, the Alliance is committed to the adoption of standardized interoperability test procedures and processes for this new technology," said Tony Lee, chairman of the Gigabit Ethernet Alliance and senior product manager at Sun Microsystems. "Our goal is to establish and publish formal standards for Gigabit Ethernet and vendor interoperability."

Gigabit Ethernet will originally be deployed in backbone environments as the preferred interconnection between switches, which aggregates multiple lower speed (10 and 100 Mbps) Ethernet segments. The technology will also provide an upgrade path for crowded bandwidth application environments such as high-end imaging, pre-press, video, and CAD/CAM, which were among the first applications to adopt Fast Ethernet technology.

Technical proposals developed by Alliance members will be submitted to the IEEE 802.3z standards committee, furthering efforts to standardize 1000Mbps Ethernet technology. To date, individuals representing more than 50 companies have expressed their intent to participate in the Gigabit Ethernet standards activities.

Plaintree Systems Inc.

Plaintree Systems Inc. develops, manufactures, and markets a range of products for the LAN switching market that improve the performance and simplify the management of Ethernet networks. The Company, which was founded in 1988, has its headquarters in Ottawa, Canada, with US operations based in Waltham, MA. Plaintree's stock is listed on NASDAQ and The Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbols LANPF and LAN respectively. Plaintree maintains a World Wide Web site at http://www.plaintree.com on the Internet.

For additional information on the Gigabit Ethernet Alliance contact:

Alan Greenfield

Senior Vice President Marketing and Sales

Plaintree Systems Inc.

(617) 290-5800

E-mail: greenfld@plntree.synapse.net

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Plaintree, WaveSwitch, SmartVIPS, and FastLinx are trademarks and registered trademarks of Plaintree Systems Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their owners.

CONTACT: Alan Greenfield

Senior Vice President, Marketing and Sales

Plaintree Systems Inc.

(617) 290-5800 greenfld@plntree.synapse.net

or

Cheryl Walsh

Brodeur & Partners (for Plaintree Systems Inc.)

(617) 622-2845 cwalsh@brodeur.com