HomePNA Receives Global Standard Approval From the International Telecommunication Union; New DataComm Research Report Concludes HomePNA Will Lead Home Networking Industry.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN RAMON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 9, 2001

The Home Phoneline Networking Alliance (HomePNA), an association of 150 companies working together to bring home phoneline networking solutions to consumers, today announced the formal approval by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) of a critical technical specification for a single, worldwide standard for home phoneline networking. The new global standard from the ITU, a communications standards body under the auspices of the United Nations, could pave the way for worldwide deployment of home phoneline network technology benefiting equipment vendors, service providers and consumers.

The Recommendation G.989.1 (Phoneline Networking Transceivers - Foundation) is the first to cover specifications for home phoneline networking, detailing key characteristics of devices designed for the transmission of data over existing phoneline wiring within the home. HomePNA certified products, including preconfigured PCs, network interface cards, broadband modems and gateways, and home networking chip solutions, are all designed to adhere to the new ITU G.989.1 Recommendation. HomePNA networking devices enable consumers to simultaneously share Internet access on multiple PCs, transfer files, and share peripherals such as printers using existing home phone lines.

"HomePNA members are extremely pleased with the decision of the ITU this February," said Steven Strauss, technical committee chairperson for HomePNA. "The ITU standard opens a much larger market for HomePNA certified products as we broaden our focus from developing solutions targeted at U.S. manufacturers and end users to manufacturers and end users worldwide."

"The G.989.1 ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) global standard has given HomePNA a tremendous amount of impetus moving forward as its members can now manufacture products conforming to this global standard," said Richard Stuart, Rapporteur of Q. 4/15 Network Access Systems for ITU-T. "The goal of most consortiums is to achieve global approval of its technology, and HomePNA has now done that."

Throughout the ITU-T approval process, HomePNA provided significant contributions in support of this standard that led to this universal agreement. One of HomePNA's contributions was the provision of the editor responsible for presenting and updating the text of the ITU's Recommendation.

The Recommendation G.989.1 was developed by Study Group 15 of the ITU-T. The ITU-T ensures the efficient and on-time production of high quality standards covering virtually all fields of telecommunications. Study Group 15 focuses on studies of optical and other transport networks, systems and equipment, encompassing the development of transmission layer-related standards for the access, metropolitan and long haul sections of communication networks. The Question under study that led to the home phoneline Recommendation analyzed subscriber line transceivers for customer access and in-premises phoneline networking systems on metallic pairs.

DataComm Research Company Confirms HomePNA's Worldwide Leadership

DataComm Research Company recently released a report regarding the current state of the home networking industry entitled Digital Dwellings: Technologies and Business Opportunities for Small Networks. The report stated that although "Ethernet will continue to dominate the small office, Ethernet will not be a big winner in the home. Ethernet requires the use of hubs and either coax or qualified twisted pair cabling. Consumers will be attracted to technologies that use existing wiring (HomePNA and PLC), to avoid running new wire. HomePNA is the leading technology for home Internet access sharing and is likely to remain on top for the next three years."

DataComm Research also concluded the following: "HomePNA is very attractive. It uses existing wiring where available. It magically transforms single-use wiring into dual-use wiring. The convenience of HomePNA is tough to beat." For more information regarding the Digital Dwellings report and how to order a copy visit: www.datacommresearch.com/ddpr.html.

HomePNA's leadership as a key home networking standard is attributable to a combination of high-performing technology (robust and fast 1.0 Mbps and 10 Mbps throughput), ease of use (connections use ordinary phoneline and existing phone outlets), and availability of a variety of compelling products for home phoneline networking.

About the Home Phoneline Networking Alliance

The Home Phoneline Networking Alliance (HomePNA) is an incorporated, non-profit association of industry-leading companies working together to ensure adoption of a single, unified phoneline networking industry standard and rapidly bring to market a range of interoperable home networking solutions. Founded in June 1998, HomePNA is led by 11 forward-thinking companies (3Com, Agere Systems, AMD, AT&T Wireless Services, Broadcom, Compaq, Conexant, Hewlett-Packard Co., Intel, Motorola and Tut Systems). The Alliance's membership has grown to include over 150 cutting-edge companies, spanning the networking, telecommunications, hardware, software, and consumer electronics industries.