Berkom USA established to pursue strategic partnerships in advanced telecommunications technology; New corporation is North American partner of DeTeBerkom, leading German research and development laboratory.

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 19, 1995--A new corporation, Berkom USA, has been formed to serve as the designated U.S. source of technologies developed by DeTeBerkom, the multimedia research and development subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, the world's third-largest telephone company.

Berkom USA is an independent, U.S.-based organization created by two former executives of the Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corp. (MCC) with the support and cooperation of DeTeBerkom.

The mission of Berkom USA is to actively pursue strategic partnerships through "pre-market" demonstration projects that, in turn, will accelerate the availability of products and services based on DeTeBerkom technologies.

"Advanced communications technologies are the key to the information society of the future and will affect every aspect of our lives," said Juergen Kanzow, president of DeTeBerkom. "For nearly a decade, DeTeBerkom has been developing a wide range of high-speed, multimedia technologies, with a special emphasis on practical applications in industry, government, and academia.

"We are committed to accelerating the market development of these technologies on a global basis, and Berkom USA is an important part of that strategy."

"DeTeBerkom offers a unique collection of proven, advanced, multimedia applications," said Joseph D. Sims, Berkom USA chief executive officer. "We believe that there is a pressing need in the U.S. for the kinds of systems that DeTeBerkom has been offering in Europe and elsewhere since 1986."

"Few other organizations have DeTeBerkom's depth of experience in true global interoperability -- technical, operational and cultural," added Sims. "Berkom USA is dedicated to bringing this experience to bear on significant opportunities in the United States."

Berkom USA's founders include Sims, formerly vice president of business development for MCC, and Dr. Joe R. Brown, formerly director of the intelligent systems division at MCC.

Berkom USA's initial focus is in areas representing important emerging markets and critical national challenges -- healthcare, financial services, telecommunications, and online services -- with particular emphasis on global interoperability across emerging communication infrastructures such as ISDN, ATM, and other broadband systems.

Berkom USA's goal is to establish significant-scale demonstration projects in these areas in order to demonstrate the reliability of these technologies operating on a global basis. One of Berkom USA's initial roles is supporting the MAY Project, a pilot project testing high-speed transatlantic connectivity between Deutsche Telekom and Sprint International using Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) networks.

Under the terms of their agreement, Berkom USA is the designated source for DeTeBerkom technologies in the United States. Berkom USA is seeking U.S. partners for large-scale demonstration projects involving DeTeBerkom and its parent, Deutsche Telekom.

These projects will mirror DeTeBerkom's project philosophy of multidisciplinary, collaborative projects, emphasizing the practical application of open system solutions to real operating requirements. Berkom USA anticipates that the experience and technology refinement gained through these partnerships and demonstration projects will establish a solid foundation for eventual commercialization of related products.

DeTeBerkom (Berlin) is a Deutsche Telekom group company. DeTeBerkom was established in 1986 by Deutsche Telekom with the mission of conducting research and development of market-suited application solutions for present and future telecommunications challenges.

Since its inception, more than 100 international partners have participated in 260 projects covering different technological and application areas. DeTeBerkom's primary focus is enabling applications to utilize high-speed, high-bandwidth, multimedia technologies.

CONTACT: GTT Communications Inc., Austin

Bill Stotesbery, 512/219-6339 (press inquiries)

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DeTeBerkom

Anton Huensler, 011-49-30-46701-330

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Marcus Carpenter, 512/345-6968