Industry group to focus on making ISDN more accessible

January 23, 1996 -- SAN RAMON, Calif. -- AT&T Network Systems, 3Com Corp.,
Ascend Communications Inc., and U.S. Robotics Inc. announced today that
they have established the ISDN Forum, an industrywide group whose purpose
is to make ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) more accessible to
small businesses and consumers. The ISDN Forum will enhance
interoperability between ISDN end-user equipment and the public network,
and promote the market's use of ISDN for applications such as Internet
access, telecommuting and videoconferencing. The Forum's first effort will
be to make ISDN installations more transparent to the end-user.

Forum participants will exchange technical information regarding ISDN;
address ISDN user needs; and promote interoperability that allows faster
and easier digital transmission of voice, images and data across copper
telephone lines. After an initial organizational meeting being held here
today, the companies will make further information on participation
available to members of the industry, including CPE vendors, network
infrastructure vendors, network service providers, information service
providers and applications developers.

The initial focus of the Forum's work will be on automated ISDN
configuration capabilities including automatic switch detection and
automatic Service Profile Identifier (SPID) capabilities. ISDN users
currently need to configure their systems for ISDN by entering information
about their telephone switch and SPID. Forum participants will design
automated ISDN configuration capabilities that will be transparent to the
end- user by the end of 1996.

"Small businesses and consumers are hungry for ISDN as a quick, cost-
effective way to gain faster access to the Internet, telecommuting, and
videoconferencing," said David Helfrich, vice president of Marketing for
3Com Corp. "Improved use and deployment of ISDN can make that happen, and
we see the ISDN Forum playing an important role in that development and
promotion."

"Our goal is for people to take home an ISDN terminal device, unpack it,
plug it in, and be able to use it," said Bernie Schneider, vice president
of Marketing for Ascend Communications. "Our Forum's work strives to make
that a reality."

"Our companies will make it simpler for customers to choose ISDN as a
method of access," said Don Mulder, vice president of Strategic Marketing
for U.S. Robotics Corp./Systems Division. "We plan to make ISDN as simple
as analog technology is today -- both for individuals and corporations who
are faced with the issues of providing remote access solutions for their
employees."

"AT&T Network Systems will provide initial technical specification
proposals for the Forum's first ISDN initiatives," said Jim Bodycomb, AT&T
Network Systems Customer Business Management vice president, 5ESSR-2000
Switch. "We'll also support development and interoperability testing at
our Bell Laboratories facilities." 3Com, Ascend, U.S. Robotics and other
participants will evaluate the initial ISDN simplification proposals,
present additional enhancements, develop features in their CPE equipment
that support the Forum's efforts, and provide resources for network
interoperability testing.

The ISDN Forum is an open industry forum founded by AT&T Network Systems,
3Com, Ascend Communications and U.S. Robotics. Its membership is open to
all ISDN industry stakeholders, and the Forum's work will focus on the
following key objectives:

* Simplify ISDN Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) implementation for
  end-users;
* Improve interoperability between the CPE and the network;
* Simplify and/or automate ISDN CPE configuration, operation and
  management;
* Promote open network interoperability and simplify processes for
  ordering and implementing ISDN by end-users;
* Facilitate CPE/network interoperability testing and support;
* Stimulate demand for ISDN through Forum communications;
* Propose specifications for development of enhanced ISDN capabilities.

Questions about becoming a member of the ISDN Forum should be directed to
Rob Mariani of AT&T Network Systems at 510-815-8080.

The ISDN Forum

Founding members of the ISDN Forum include:

AT&T NETWORK SYSTEMS: AT&T Network Systems will become part of the new
systems and technology company that is expected to be spun off from AT&T
as a separate company in 1996 as part of AT&T's restructuring.

3COM CORPORATION: 3Com Corporation has helped more than 25 million people
gain access to critical information through high-speed networks. Designed
to serve large enterprises, service providers, small offices and homes,
3Com products provide a scaleable architecture to meet the present and
future connectivity needs of today's users. With research and development
on three continents, 3Com is one of the data networking industry's largest
and fastest growing companies and is the industry's largest LAN vendor.
3Com's innovative manufacturing, marketing, sales and support simplify
communication, optimize network reliability and protect customer
investments. For further information visit 3Com's WorldWide Web site:
http://www.3Com.com.

ASCEND COMMUNICATIONS, INC.: Ascend Communications, Inc., develops,
manufactures, sells and supports a broad range of high-speed digital wide
area network access products. These products use bandwidth-on-demand to
enhance and extend existing corporate networks for applications such as
remote LAN access, telecommuting, Internet access, videoconferencing and
integrated voice, data and video access.

U.S. ROBOTICS, INC.: U.S. Robotics is one of the world's leading suppliers
of products and systems that provide access to information. The company
designs, manufactures, markets and supports remote access servers,
enterprise communications systems, desktop/mobile client products and
modems that connect computers and other equipment over analog, digital and
switched cellular networks, enabling users to gain access to, manage and
share data, fax and voice information. Its customers include Internet
service providers, regional Bell operating companies and a wide range of
other large corporations, businesses, institutions and individuals. The
company's 1995 sales were $889.3 million.
 
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