Olicom Offers Fast Ethernet Migration Solution for Token Ring Enterprises with Unparalleled Price/Performance.

COPENHAGEN and DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 8, 1999--

Industry's First Solution for Migrating from Token Ring to

Fault-Tolerant Fast Ethernet with Olicom's

CrossFire 8730 Translation Switch

Olicom A/S (Nasdaq/NMS:OLCMF), the leading provider of Token Ring migration solutions, today announced a new Fast Ethernet product suite that offers Token Ring users a convenient migration path to robust, fault-tolerant Fast Ethernet networking.

Today's announcement completes the third leg of the ClearStep(SM) Migration Strategy that Olicom introduced to the Token Ring industry 18 months ago. ClearStep permits easy migration from Token Ring to high-speed networking, enabling Token Ring-based enterprises to build an infrastructure most suitable for business growth. Using Olicom's ClearStep strategy and product suite, Token Ring customers have a full range of high-speed options, from High Speed Token Ring to ATM, and now Fast Ethernet.

"The availability of the new Fast Ethernet suite accentuates Olicom's solutions approach to the Token Ring industry," said CEO Niels Christian Furu. "We are absolutely committed to an even-handed approach that enables an enterprise to choose the technology that best meets its requirements. With each option, ClearStep lets Token Ring users build highly compatible, scalable high-speed backbones to support current and future bandwidth needs."

"Token Ring users cannot simply rip everything out and replace it with Ethernet devices," said Jorgen Hog, Vice President of Product Marketing. "Such a forklift upgrade strategy fails to take into account that the bulk of the cost and complexity of this conversion lies at the workstation, in the cost of NIC and cabling replacements, as well as the time and labor involved."

Olicom's ClearStep Strategy allows users to maintain their current investment in Token Ring infrastructure while growing the network with Ethernet. This enables the Company to defer the trouble and expense of changing out the workstation NICs and cables until it becomes convenient, such as when a user upgrades to a new computer.

Anchored by the CrossFire 8730 Fast Ethernet Translation switch, Olicom's new Fast Ethernet suite includes eight products ranging from the access layer (where user PCs are connected to the network) to the core (backbone) of the network.

The CrossFire 8730 Fast Ethernet Translation Switch is the first switch in the industry designed specifically for Token-Ring-to-Ethernet migration. The device offers four Fast Ethernet ports, 20 Token Ring ports, and built-in translational bridging, and supports fault tolerance through Olicom's ClearSession(tm) high-availability technology.

ClearSession is Olicom's product architecture for network fault tolerance that enables Token Ring enterprises to maintain mission-critical performance as they move to high-speed switched networks.

"One of the main reasons large corporations choose to use Token Ring in the first place is its superior fault-tolerance technology," commented Hog. "They rely so much on their network that they actually lose substantial revenue if the network fails. ClearStep, combined with Olicom's ClearSession technology, ensures that they get the same level of reliability on Ethernet that they came to expect from Token Ring."

"ClearSession technology is integrated into all of our products, whether you have chosen Token Ring, Ethernet, ATM or a mixture of each," said Hog. "It's comforting to know that your network can be relied on 99.99% of the time--so you can focus your attention on your business rather than your network."

OLICOM'S FAST ETHERNET PRODUCT SUITE

Distribution Layer

-- CrossFire 8730. Providing the fastest and easiest option for

connecting Token Ring workgroups to Fast Ethernet, the

CrossFire 8730 Fast Ethernet Translation Switch translates

all Token Ring packets directly into Fast Ethernet frames

and vice versa, avoiding the complexity and cost of

traditional techniques that involve slower, more expensive

routers. The 8730 also provides the full benefits of LAN 

switching to eliminate congestion in legacy workgroups while

the migration process is under way. The switch provides 4

Fast Ethernet switch ports and 20 Token Ring switch ports,

applying translation between topologies to provide seamless

integration. The 8730 will be available in 1Q99 for a list

price of $12,995.

-- CrossFire 8720. Providing extensive high-availability,

high-performance, and Quality of Service (QoS) features, the

8720 Fast Ethernet Layer 3 Switch offers layer 2 switching,

layer 3 routing and layer 4 application intelligence for

directing traffic between servers, workgroups, VLANs and

sub-nets. This powerful combination of traffic control and

reliability features makes it an unsurpassed distribution or

backbone level switch. The 8720 features 16 10/100 ports,

with 2 expansion slots accommodating the following modules:

8 port 10/100 UTP, 8 port 10/100 multi-mode fiber, 2 port

ATM 155Mbps UTP and MMF, and 2 port Gigabit Ethernet. The

8720 will be available in 2Q99 for a list price of $7,360.

Core Layer

-- CrossFire 8810. This chassis-based backbone switch provides

wire-speed layer 2, 3 and 4 switching, combined with

comprehensive application-based Quality of Service (QoS)

features. The flexible 7-slot, 16Gb/s chassis accommodates

Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet modules. Superior design

of the switching fabric prevents problems, such as

head-of-line blocking, that occur in many similar products.

Fast layer 3 re-route, redundant power and redundant

management capabilities ensure the utmost in reliability.

The 8810 will be available in 3Q99 for a list price starting

at $25,995 for a starter kit containing the chassis, power

supply, routing engine and 16 10/100Mb/s ports.

Access Layer

-- CrossFire 8710 and 8711. The 8711 Fast Ethernet switch

offers comprehensive management, two expansion slots, and

the ability to extend the switch matrix to include up to

three additional 8711 or 8710 switches. The 8710 provides

the same high performance for cost-effective port-count

expansion in a stack managed by at least one 8711. Both

switches have 24 10/100 ports. The 8710 has 1 expansion

slot, the 8711 has 2. Their expansion slots can accommodate

the following modules: 8 port 10/100 UTP, 4 port 10/100

multi-mode fiber, 2 port Gigabit Ethernet and stacker

modules. The 8710 and 8711 will be available in 2Q99 for a

list price of $1995 and $2,499, respectively.

-- GoCard 2250. Combining support for the latest power

management initiatives with 32-bit CardBus performance, the

2250 10/100 CardBus provides hassle-free, high-performance,

mobile connectivity. The 2250 will be available in 1Q99 for

a list price of $189.

-- RapidFire 2410. Designed for servers and high-performance

workstations that need the utmost in performance, the 2410

provides full-duplex Gigabit Ethernet connectivity for

high-bandwidth applications, and supports on-board CRC 

checking. The 2410 will be available in 3Q99 for a list

price of $995.

-- RapidLAN 2800. This new dual-speed Fast Ethernet Hub is the

perfect solution for businesses seeking to cost-effectively

integrate their 10 Mbps Ethernet networks with 100 Mbps Fast

Ethernet. For businesses segmenting their networks with Fast

Ethernet switches, the 2800 is an excellent choice for

maintaining smaller shared workgroups with Fast Ethernet

links to the backbone switch. The 2800 has 24 dual-speed

Fast Ethernet ports and is stackable up to 5 units high. The

2800 is available now at a list price of $1099.

-- RapidFire 2327. This Fast Ethernet PCI Network Interface

Card (NIC) is an easy-to-use adapter with superior

management features that can boost network productivity

while lowering total cost of ownership. It was recently

named "Recommended NIC Card" in a VNU Lab Test. The 2327 is

available now at a list price of $88.

Olicom's new Fast Ethernet products feature ClearSession(tm) fault tolerance support with the following advanced features:

-- Rapid Spanning Tree Recovery (RSTR), which establishes a new

route around a link failure in less than 3 seconds.

-- ClearLink, which facilitates aggregation of multiple

Ethernet links between two switches and ensures loadsharing

and resilience.

-- ClearServer, which is a technology for resilient aggregation

of multiple Fast Ethernet adapters in a server.

-- ClearSession Resilient Load Balancing, which enables traffic

from different virtual LANs to follow different paths across

the network, and automatically redistributes the traffic in

case a path fails.

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. Olicom 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, and ClearSession is a trademark of Olicom A/S. ClearStep is a service mark 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 US 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.