Cabletron Joins Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance -WECA-; New Membership Further Demonstrates Cabletron's Commitment to Industry Standards

Business Wire, Sept 15, 1999

ROCHESTER, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 15, 1999--

Cabletron Systems (NYSE:CS) today announced that the company has joined The Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA), a new organization dedicated to certifying interoperability for IEEE 802.11 High Rate Wireless LAN products and promoting the High Rate standard for enterprise, small business, and home markets.

"We are pleased to have an industry leader such as Cabletron join WECA," said Phil Belanger, WECA Chairman. "As a strong proponent of 802.11 High Rate, we are confident that Cabletron will help WECA to achieve our goal of accelerating the adoption of wireless LANs in key market segments."

As a new member, Cabletron can submit products to WECA's independent test lab for interoperability certification, and display WECA's seal of approval on all certified products. This certification process will enable solutions from different vendors to function within the same wireless local area network (WLAN), improving the integrity of wireless networks for mobile network users.

"Cabletron is excited to become a new member of WECA. We feel that our membership in this organization will further enhance the visibility of our wireless solutions and help us to expand into new markets," said Gary McCoy, director of wireless product development at Cabletron Systems.

Cabletron will be named as a member of WECA at an event later today at Networld-Interop'99 in Atlanta. Cabletron joins 3Com, Aironet, Intersil, Lucent Technologies, Nokia, and Symbol Technologies as a WECA member.

Cabletron's WECA membership is one of several new announcements on the company's wireless LAN solutions, including its new 802.11 High Rate RoamAbout PC Card and Access Point, support for the 802.11 Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) standard, and the new RoamAbout Building-to-Building wireless bridge.

For additional information on Cabletron's wireless solutions, visit the company's web site at www.cabletron.com/wireless.> About the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance

The Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA) is a non-profit organization formed in 1999 to certify interoperability of IEEE 802.11 High Rate wireless LAN products and to promote that standard for enterprise, small business, public and home markets. WECA has defined a test suite against which member products are tested to certify that they are interoperable with other vendor products. Testing will be conducted by an independent lab. Products that successfully pass are granted the WECA seal of interoperability.

Membership is open to all companies actively promoting IEEE 802.11 High Rate as the primary standard for 2.4 GHz wireless LAN products. Founding WECA sponsor companies are 3Com, Aironet, Intersil, Lucent Technologies, Nokia, and Symbol Technologies. For more information, http://www.wirelessethernet.org.

About Cabletron Systems

Cabletron Systems, a premier provider of world-class networking solutions, delivers reliable network access and communications to millions of people worldwide. With scaleable products designed for Global 1000 enterprise networks, service providers and small businesses, Cabletron is the e-business communications specialist in the Internet economy. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange for more than a decade under the symbol CS, Cabletron is an S&P 500 index company. Cabletron's web site can be reached on the Internet at http://www.cabletron.com.