Olicom Offers Cutting-Edge Solution for Token-Ring to Fast Ethernet Connectivity; Large Canadian Customer Endorses Olicom's Token-Ring to Fast Ethernet Migration Strategy.

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 29, 1999--Olicom A/S (Nasdaq NMS: OLCMF), the leader in fault-tolerant enterprise networking solutions, has announced the availability of its CrossFire 8660 Translational Switch Module for enterprises that need to connect their Token-Ring LANs with Ethernet LANs.

The 8660 is a modular component of the CrossFire 8600 and 8605 Token-Ring Switches, Olicom's next-generation Token-Ring solutions that provide rich feature sets at an attractive per-port price.

The 8660 Translational Switch Module is one in a series of new products from Olicom designed to facilitate migration from Token-Ring to Fast Ethernet. Olicom provides an easy and cost-effective migration path with its ClearStep migration strategy -- which is designed to optimize existing investments in Token-Ring, while paving the way for high-speed networking where it is needed most in the enterprise.

Olicom's migration strategy has helped several major corporations with large existing investments in Token-Ring make an efficient translation to Fast Ethernet, while still maximizing their existing investments.

"We have a large investment in Token-Ring equipment. It doesn't make good economic sense to replace every single NIC in the enterprise," said Scott Argue, Telecommunications Manager of Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, a $4 billion a year food processing and grain elevator company with headquarters in Regina, Saskatchewan. "There are areas, however, where Fast Ethernet is the obvious choice. The CrossFire 8660 lets us have a choice -- and as a result, lets us maximize our existing investments."

With the introduction of the CrossFire 8660, Olicom makes it possible to integrate Token-Ring with High-Speed Token-Ring, Fast Ethernet, and ATM simultaneously on the CrossFire 860x platform -- providing network designers with a wide choice of migration options. The release of the powerful 860x platform has catapulted Olicom into the number one position in the industry in total shipments of stackable Token-Ring ports. According to a recent Cahners In-Stat market share study, Olicom's market share in this segment is 36.5%.

Larger enterprises running mission-critical applications on their networks have long relied on Token-Ring for its fault tolerance and superior performance. However, the introduction of high-speed Ethernet, along with the growing trend toward corporate mergers, has resulted in a demand for coexistence of both technologies.

Unlike proprietary encapsulation solutions, Olicom's approach is fully interoperable with other vendors' Ethernet and Token-Ring products, because it actually translates each Token-Ring frame to Ethernet format and vice versa. "Encapsulation merely places each Token-Ring frame inside of a modified Ethernet packet for transmission," explained Jorgen Hog, Vice President, Product Marketing for Olicom. "Because most encapsulation solutions are proprietary, they preclude a multivendor solution."

"The CrossFire 8660 is a key element in our ClearStep migration strategy," said Hog. "In the past, connectivity between Token-Ring and Ethernet could only be achieved through expensive router technology, or through proprietary encapsulation mechanisms. The CrossFire 8660 allows Token-Ring to be quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively connected to Ethernet networks using Layer 2 switching. In addition to having a much lower cost than routing, this solution is also superior to routing by supporting non-routable protocols like NETBIOS."

Organizations moving from Token-Ring to Fast Ethernet still require a high degree of availability and fault tolerance, however. The Olicom 8660 provides this through the ClearSession framework. "Once you move your mission-critical applications to Fast Ethernet, you can still enjoy the superior fault tolerance and high availability of Token-Ring -- through Olicom's ClearSession framework," said Hog. "ClearSession, which protects the entire network from desktop to backbone to server, brings high availability and fault tolerance to modern high-speed Ethernet networks."

Through ClearSession, only Olicom is able to guarantee a network recovery time of three seconds or less -- a rate that eliminates the possibility of session loss. Other Ethernet solutions often require 30 seconds, or even minutes to establish a new network path after a failure -- which may result in end-users' sessions being terminated.

"The CrossFire 8660 offers a strategic solution for connecting Token-Ring to Fast Ethernet," concluded Hog. "The 8660, along with our patented ClearSession framework, means you get the advantages of high-speed Ethernet -- while still enjoying the superior fault tolerance and availability of Token-Ring."

The CrossFire 8660 Translational Switch Module, which has two 10/100 Ethernet ports, is now available at a suggested retail price of $2,995.

About Saskatchewan Wheat Pool

Saskatchewan Wheat Pool is the largest grain handler and agricultural co-operative in Canada, with annual sales of over $4 billion. The company's Class B shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol SWP.B.

About Olicom

Olicom, a leading global supplier of high-performance data networking solutions, designs, develops, manufactures, and markets its products for large, geographically dispersed enterprises. It specializes in providing campus network connectivity solutions, advanced technical support services and ClearStep(SM) evolution strategies for networks in transition. The company's products are distributed worldwide by a network of strategic partners and resellers. More information on Olicom is available from the company's SEC filings or by contacting the company directly. See Olicom news, product, and service information on its Web site at http://www.olicom.com.

Olicom is a registered trademark. ClearStep is a service mark of Olicom A/S. ClearSession is a trademark of Olicom A/S. All other brand and product names are registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Except for historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this news release may contain forward-looking statements, involving risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially. Among the factors that could cause results to differ are uncertain market conditions, overall demand levels for networking solution products, the timely development of new products, intense competition in the networking industry and the company's ability to execute strategies efficiently and effectively. Further information may be found in Olicom's periodic filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the most recent reports on Form 20-F and 6-K, which identify important risk factors related to the company's business that could cause actual results to materially differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements.