BRE Properties Selects Tut's Expresso MDU to Deliver High-Speed Internet Access to Residents.

PLEASANT HILL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 16, 1998--

Top Multifamily REIT to Deploy Cost-Effective, "No New Wires"

Data Connectivity Solutions in its Apartment Communities

Tut Systems, Inc. today announced that BRE Properties, Inc., a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT), will begin deploying high-speed Internet access to residents in selected apartment communities using Tut Systems' Expresso MDU.

BRE, one of the nation's leading REITs, focuses on the development, acquisition, ownership and management of multifamily properties throughout the western United States.

To date, Tut's technology has been rolled out to four BRE communities. Tut's technology is expected to be installed in five additional properties before the end of 1998. BRE owns and operates 80 apartment communities totaling 20,375 units in California, Arizona, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado. Currently, the company has eleven additional properties under development totaling 3,022 apartment units.

Expresso MDU is the first "single box" access concentrator solution to enable cost-effective provisioning of high-speed Internet access and data services for the tenants of apartment buildings, hotels, dormitories and other multi-dwelling units (MDUs). Expresso MDU incorporates Tut's HomeRun(TM) home networking technology to deliver data at a speed of 1Mbit/s over existing telephone wires without interruption of phone services.

"We see an increasing demand for high-speed Internet access among our residents in all of our markets," said Bruce Ward, Executive Vice President, Development and Acquisitions, BRE Properties, Inc.

"Tut's Expresso MDU was an easy choice to meet this demand because the implementation was so simple. We received top-notch support from Tut and the system is affordable. In some of our older properties, it would be too cost-prohibitive to install new cabling for Internet access. Because Expresso MDU uses a building's existing wiring, it's the perfect solution to provide high-speed Internet access."

The Expresso MDU is an easy-to-deploy installation, designed to sit in the basement or wiring closet of an apartment building, dormitory, or hotel and deliver secure, high-speed Internet access to individual units within a building.

Because it utilizes Tut's HomeRun home networking technology, the Expresso MDU system turns every phone jack within an apartment into a network connection and allows end users with multiple PCs to share Internet connections. HomeRun also creates a private LAN within each apartment, making it possible to share files and peripherals and even to play multi-player games.

"Having 'always-on' fast Internet access means that getting my e-mail and surfing the web is finally convenient, affordable and easy," said Andrew Littorno, a resident in BRE's Promontory Point Community in San Ramon, Calif. "Now that we have a high-speed network in our home, I never want to go without it."

"Expresso MDU was designed from the outset to meet the very special needs of property owners like BRE," said Sal D'Auria, President and CEO of Tut Systems. "Our goal is to provide a solution that makes high-speed Internet access both accessible and affordable for people in apartment residences everywhere. While we're certainly very excited by BRE's decision to deploy Expresso MDU, the real beneficiaries will be BRE's residents around the country."

About Expresso MDU

Expresso MDU is the first "single box" access concentrator solution to enable cost-effective provisioning of high-speed Internet access and data services for the tenants of apartment buildings, hotels, dormitories and other multi-dwelling units (MDUs).

Tut's Expresso MDU provides owners of private copper networks with an easy-to-deploy and scalable means of distributing high-speed data access to tenants over the copper telephone wires found in multi-tenant or multi-dwelling units.

The Expresso MDU architecture is designed to combine a low cost of entry with advanced features, creating a scalable system capable of delivering high performance and high port densities (up to 1,224 ports per 8-foot rack).

About HomeRun Technology

HomeRun creates a 1 Mbit/s Ethernet LAN over the existing random structure phonelines already in the home. No new wires or connections are required, and HomeRun operates concurrently with existing telephone (or "POTS") service. The technology provides the bandwidth necessary for today's home networking applications -- shared Internet access, shared peripherals and multi-player gaming.

HomeRun is also expected to complement the new Universal ADSL technology, known as U-ADSL, being championed by Compaq, Intel and Microsoft. HomeRun technology was recently chosen as the first specification for home networking by the Home Phoneline Networking Alliance (HomePNA). The first specification is expected to be released later this quarter.

Tut's HomeRun technology recently received two of the industry's highest honors at Fall COMDEX '98 -- an MVP Award from PC Computing and PC Magazine's prestigious award for technical excellence.

About Tut

Tut Systems designs, develops and markets advanced communications products which enable high-speed data access over the copper infrastructure of telephone companies, as well as the copper telephone wires in homes, businesses and other buildings.

These products incorporate Tut's proprietary FastCopper technology in a cost-effective, scalable and easy-to-deploy solution to exploit the underutilized bandwidth of copper telephone wires. The Company's products include Expresso high bandwidth access multiplexers, associated modems and routers, XL Ethernet extension products and integrated network management software.

Tut's HomeRun technology, an in-home application of FastCopper, has been chosen by the Home Phoneline Networking Alliance (HomePNA) as the initial specification for in-home networking over phonelines.

The HomePNA is a non-profit corporation formed to provide a forum for the creation of an open standard and specification for home networking products and services. The founding members of the HomePNA include Tut, 3Com Corporation, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., AT&T Wireless Services, Inc., Compaq Computer Corporation, Epigram Inc., International Business Machines Corporation, Intel Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Company, Lucent Technologies Inc. and Rockwell Semiconductor Systems Inc.

For more information, visit Tut's World Wide Web site at http://www.tutsys.com or contact Tut's U.S. Headquarters directly at 925/682-6510 or 800/998-4888.

About BRE Properties, Inc.

BRE Properties, Inc. is a self-administered, self-managed and fully integrated real estate investment trust focusing on the development, acquisition, ownership and management of multifamily properties in the Western United States.

BRE owns and operates 80 apartment communities totaling 20,375 units in California, Arizona, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado. The company currently has 11 other apartment communities under development totaling 3,022 units. Additional information about BRE can be found on the company's web site (www.breproperties.com).

Note to Editors: For more information (including pictures in electronic or slide form) or to arrange interviews or product reviews, please contact Sterling Communications at: 408/441-4100.

Tut, the Tut logo, HomeRun and Fast Copper are trademarks of Tut Systems, Inc. All other products or company names mentioned are used for identification purposes only, and may be trademarks of their respective owners.