Hitachi Announces Value-Added Partnership with Consulintel; IPv6: The Emerging Technology as Demand for IP Addresses and Security Grows

Business Wire, Nov 16, 2001

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SANTA CLARA, Calif.; MADRID, Spain & MAIDENHEAD, U.K.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 16, 2001--Hitachi Internetworking, a unit of Hitachi America, Ltd., Enterprise Systems Division reached a partnership agreement with Consulintel, S.L., a strategic member of IPv6 European community, to integrate, resell and support the full product line of Hitachi gigabit routers.

The addition of the GR2000 to Consulintel's product and service offering strengthens the company's leadership position in the forefront of the European thrust to implement and deploy IPv6 ready networks.

Hitachi has added new features to the GR2000 family to complement the next generation of access and core routers. GR2000 is presently being deployed in real-world scenarios and is touted for its IPv6 performance and functionality.

Hitachi is the leading developer and early adopter of the Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) which offers expanded IP addresses for the increasing number of Internet devices, such as personal computers, wireless devices, and new "smart" appliances, etc.

A critical attribute of IPv6 is its enhanced mobility along with end-to-end security. IPv6 is designed to address other IPv4 limitations like Quality of Service (QoS) parameters for real-time audio, and auto-configuration for plug and play capabilities.

Hitachi is the first to announce the implementation of hardware IPv6, which is supported over OC-48 POS at wire speed. Uri Rahamim, Hitachi Internetworking's vice president of worldwide sales and marketing, said, "Hitachi's strong offering of the fastest hardware IPv6 gigabit routing product is enhanced by Consulintel's focus on application development and IPv6 backbone and access networks implementations."

Consulintel, founding member of IPv6 Forum, co-chair of the Education, Awareness, Public Relations and Promotion Working Group, with expertise in network deployment, is also developing IPv6 network management applications. As a Scientific Coordinator of the Euro6IX project, Consulintel along with the support from other consortium members plans to build IPv6 Internet Exchanges to enable development of a pan-European IPv6 backbone.

About Hitachi

Hitachi Internetworking, the global sales and marketing unit for Hitachi GR2000 gigabit router product, is part of Hitachi America, Ltd. In Europe, Hitachi Internetworking operates under Hitachi Europe, Ltd. For more information on the GR2000, please visit Hitachi's Web site at http://www.internetworking.hitachi.com.

Hitachi America, Ltd., a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., markets and manufactures a broad range of electronics, computer systems and products, consumer electronics and semiconductors, and provides industrial equipment and services throughout North America. For more information on Hitachi America, visit www.hitachi.com.

Hitachi Europe Ltd., is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., Japan. Headquartered in Maidenhead, U.K., it has operations in 11 countries and employs over 650 people across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. As a "Best Solutions Partner" Hitachi Europe tailors its services and solutions to meet the specific needs of its customers. Hitachi Europe comprises eight key business areas: power and industrial systems; information systems; high performance computing; electronic components; automotive; air-conditioning and refrigeration systems; procurement and sourcing; and corporate technology group (research & development). For more information about Hitachi Europe Ltd., please visit http://www.hitachi-eu.com.

Hitachi, Ltd.(NYSE:HIT), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading global electronics companies, with fiscal 2000 (ended March 31, 2001) consolidated sales of 8,417 billion yen ($67.9 billion/a) The company manufactures and markets a wide range of products, including networking products, servers, semiconductors, consumer products and industrial equipment. For more information, please visit http://global.hitachi.com.

/a At exchange rate of 124 Yen to the Dollar

About Consulintel

Consulintel, S.L. is a leading company in networking and telecommunications technologies, including integration of systems, consultancy, and maintenance/support services. Consulintel customers are small, middle and large corporations, with large installations in Spain and Portugal, and other European and Latin American countries. Consulintel provides leading technologies and solutions for various types of networks and specific solutions to Telcos, financial institutions, ISPs, Internet, e-commerce, among others. Consulintel has worked successfully for government, education and military/defense market players, supporting integration at all project phases. Consulintel is a very active member of non-profit organizations for the promotion and dissemination of networking and telecommunication technologies.

The Consulintel Web Site (www.consulintel.es), provides updated information about new technologies, in Spanish, and is a frequently used resource by students, educators, and professionals. Several tutorial, white papers, networking guides and presentations are available there.