3Com and Epigram Team to Bring High-Speed Networking Home; 3Com's HomeConnect Product Line to Include Epigram's 10 Mbps Phoneline Networking Technology

Business Wire, Nov 12, 1998

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 11, 1998--To meet the rapidly emerging need for high-speed connectivity within the home, 3Com Corporation (Nasdaq:COMS) and Epigram, Inc. today announced an agreement to develop and deliver a new generation of products providing unprecedented high speed, 10 megabit per second (Mbps) home connectivity.

Using existing home phonelines, 3Com's HomeConnect line of products will enable fa milies and home-based businesses with multiple PCs to share Internet access, peripherals and multimedia applications without having to install any "new wires" in the home.

Using technology developed by Epigram, 3Com plans to deliver the industry's broadest line of high-speed networking products, supporting connections up to 10 Mbps. The two companies further plan to pursue joint development and integration of Epigram's technology with 3Com's industry leading Ethernet, modem and broadband technologies. 3Com also will make a minority investment in Epigram in a move to bring the most robust, reliable products to the home user.

"3Com is delivering on its vision of pervasive networking to consumers," said Neil Clemmons, vice president of consumer marketing for 3Com. "This home networking initiative will enable a host of new applications -- such as video on demand, high-quality audio and voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) -- within the home, allowing users to be more connected to their businesses, the Internet and each other."

"3Com's use of Epigram technology throughout its home networking product family is expected to easily connect millions of households and small businesses through high-speed phoneline networking," said Jeff Thermond, president and CEO of Epigram, Inc. "Epigram's innovative chipsets will allow 3Com to light up more than 20 million miles of existing telephone lines with 10 Mbps Ethernet. Our collective vision of a billion connected devices is speeding down the road already paved with existing Internet and Ethernet applications."

"The combined strengths of 3Com and Epigram will significantly drive the evolution of the home Ethernet market over existing household copper," said Dave Passmore, research director at NetReference.

"Epigram's innovation, paired with 3Com's leadership role in Ethernet connectivity, gives home users an easy way to access the Internet, high-quality video and concurrent telephone service. Using this technology to avoid additional wiring costs in homes and small businesses will promote widespread establishment of standards-based Digital Dial Tone."

According to Dataquest, nearly 18 million homes in the United States currently contain more than one PC. 3Com products, using Epigram's technology, will allow home PCs and other networked devices for the first time to communicate at up to 10 Mbps over existing household telephone wiring without affecting telephone service. 3Com believes that home networking technology must be robust and scalable to support a range of exciting new applications.

These applications range from shared Internet access, which would allow multiple users to access the Internet simultaneously, to new networked multimedia applications that provide high quality audio and video performance throughout the home. "We believe Epigram demonstrates the highest performing, most reliable and cost effective technology for home networks that will support both current and future applications," added Clemmons.

3Com will deliver home networking solutions through its extensive retail distribution and OEM channels, leveraging its leading brand position. 3Com products are currently sold in over 7,000 retail outlets in the United States, where this market is first expected to take off.

"CompUSA is very excited about the home networking opportunity, and knows 3Com is a preferred consumer brand for connectivity, within the home and out to the Internet," said Paul Ewert, senior vice president of merchandising at CompUSA. "Experience shows that 3Com knows how to deliver easy-to-use, high-performance solutions into the hands of consumers."

New Product Family

Under its new HomeConnect brand, 3Com plans to introduce a family of products, including internal and external interfaces for desktop and mobile computers, shared-access cable, DSL, and analog modems, and other network-attached devices.

These standards-based products will feature the simple installation, ease-of-use and outstanding performance that have made 3Com the leader in home networking and consumer connectivity -- as evidenced by the success of such industry leading products as modems, network interface cards and the OfficeConnect ISDN LAN modem.

All HomeConnect phoneline networking products will be compatible with the recently completed HomePNA 1.0 specification. As a founding member of the Home Phoneline Networking Alliance, 3Com remains committed to developing and establishing open industry standards.

This announcement contains forward-looking statements, including statements relating to product development activities. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties associated with research and development efforts, new product plans, new technology, competitive factors, and ultimate market acceptance of new technologies and products. A further discussion of risks associated with 3Com's business can be found in 3Com's reports filed with the SEC, including Form 10-Q for the quarter ended Aug. 29, 1998.