Key cellular companies to use technology from AT&T Paradyne

LARGO, Fla. -- June 22, 1994 -- Addressing the need for improved communications performance for portable computing, leading cellular service providers, as well as IBM, Intel Corporation, Compaq, two AT&T divisions and Xircom have begun to support AT&T Paradyne's cellular data protocol, which enhances wireless data communications.

Air Touch Cellular, Ameritech, Cellular One of San Francisco, Bell Atlantic Mobile, BellSouth Cellular Corp., Comcast Cellular Communications, Inc., GTE Mobilnet and GTE Mobilnet of California, McCaw Cellular, NYNEX Mobile Communications, Telular Canada Inc. and its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary Global Data Inc., United States Cellular and US West Cellular are supporting AT&T Paradyne's ETC* (Enhanced Throughput Cellular) protocol for data transmission on their current cellular network.

Responding to the explosive growth for wireless portable computer products, Compaq, Intel Corporation, and Xircom have joined Primary Access as licensees of ETC as a way of providing optimal cellular data capability in their respective cellular modem products. A critical component in bridging the world of mobile computing and telecommunications is ETC, which is used for portable computing. AT&T Global Information Solutions includes AT&T Paradyne's PCMCIA KeepInTouch Card* modem, with ETC, in its virtual office offering. The company is the only one that provides a complete portable office solution, including a notebook computer, PCMCIA modem, cellular phone, network services, as well as specialized support -- all approved from a single manufacturer.

IBM is using the KeepInTouch Card modem with ETC, to ensure maximum cellular connectivity for their remote LAN access product (LAN Distance).

AT&T Microelectronics is also including the ETC technology in its V32Cell* chipsets -- the first commercially available with ETC. The chipset is a hardware/software solution that provides "direct connection" between PCMCIA modem cards and cellular phones.

Developed by AT&T Paradyne and its AT&T Bell Laboratories group, ETC dramatically improves actual circuit-switched cellular data performance, while lowering communications costs. In addition to offering a higher probability to connect calls and complete transactions, ETC also provides faster connection and higher data speeds, which improves productivity, saves time and reduces overall costs.

ETC was announced on June 25, 1993 and allows users to easily switch between the public switched telephone network and the cellular networks. ETC-to-ETC transmissions offered nearly 100 percent overall cellular data connectivity, with speeds of 9,600 bps and above. Unlike other cellular data protocols, ETC offers enhanced performance when used on only one end of the communications link.

"The widespread support of ETC by such a large and important group is a key step in exponentially increasing the number of wireless data communications users from an estimated 250,000 today to a projected 13 million by the year 2000," said Bill Beers, AT&T Paradyne's director of marketing.

AT&T Paradyne, based in Largo, Fla., developed the first modem that can be upgraded by phone; the first high-speed PCMCIA data/fax modem, the first 28,800 bps modem, VoiceSpan* simultaneous voice and data technology, as well as the first commercially available high-speed transmission technology for video-on-demand over the standard telephone line.

Partner companies

AirTouch Cellular, AirTouch Communications' largest wireless subsidiary, has control or shared control over cellular systems in 10 of the top 30 U.S. cellular markets. AirTouch Communications, formerly PacTel Corporation, is involved in cellular, paging, vehicle location and international ventures in many of the world's top markets.

Ameritech helps 12 million customers communicate and manage information, primarily in the midwestern U.S., including more than 1.4 million cellular, paging and wireless customers. With 1993 revenues of $11.7 billion, it also has operations in New Zealand, Hungary, Poland, Norway and other countries.

AT&T Microelectronics, headquartered in Berkeley Heights, N.J., produces a wide range of high-performance semiconductors and electronic components for applications in personal computers, networked computing, telecommunications, cellular/wireless communications, video and visual communications.

Bell Atlantic Mobile, the largest cellular carrier on the East coast and one of the fastest growing cellular carriers in North America, is a leading national provider of mobile data communications solutions, offering its Bell Atlantic. Gateway* family of wireless data services. Headquartered in Bedminster, N.J., the company serves more than one million customers.

BellSouth Cellular Corp. companies provide wireless communications services to more than 2.2 million customers in markets managed by BellSouth and its partners in 15 states.

Cellular One of San Francisco is the Silicon Valley's leading cellular telephone company, servicing over half of the Bay Area's cellular users. It is a partnership of two major wireless communications companies: AirTouch Cellular (formerly PacTel Cellular) and McCaw Communications.

Comcast Cellular Communications was founded in 1963 and is based in Wayne, Pa. Cable television programming, as well as wireline and wireless telephone communications are Comcast's primary lines of business.

Compaq Computer Corporation is a world leader in the manufacture of servers and desktop, portable and notebook personal computers. Founded in 1982, the company reported 1993 worldwide revenues of $7.2 billion. Compaq products are sold and supported in more than 100 countries through a network of more than 21,000 Compaq marketing partners.

GTE is the largest U.S.-based local telephone company and the second-largest cellular-service provider in the United States, with the potential to serve almost 30 percent of the country's population. With nearly $20 billion in revenues in 1993, the corporation is the fourth-largest publicly owned telecommunications company in the world.

IBM Personal Software Products division, headquartered in Austin, Texas, is an industry leader in the development of operating systems, including PC DOS and OS/2, as well as networking software and other advanced technologies.

Intel Corporation, the world's largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer of personal computer, networking and communications products.

McCaw Cellular Communications, Inc., operating under the name Cellular One in most of its markets, is the largest cellular service provider in the U.S. and is developing and marketing a broad range of wireless communications services, including a cellular network that spans the continent and is capable of transmitting voice and data communications.

NYNEX Mobile Communications, the wireless service subsidiary of the NYNEX Corporation, is one of the nation's leading providers of wirefree voice and data communications. It offers an enhanced wireless data communications service called Wireless ModemAccess* Service, which provides customers with the ability to make high-speed data calls to access E-mail, exchange files, query data bases, remotely link into the office LAN, or connect to third party information services -- all through NYNEX's cellular network.

Primary Access Corporation is the leading supplier of software-defined network access platforms used to link the public switched telephone network to data networks for wireless data, transaction processing and interactive data applications. Telular Canada Inc., with its wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary, Global Data Inc., is a market leader in providing wireless solutions for voice, data and video transmission applications. Setting the standards in the wireless communications industry, the company develops, engineers, sells and distributes a wide range of products, which primarily use cellular technology.

United State Cellular Corporation, based in Chicago, Ill., manages and invests in cellular systems throughout the country. The company provides service to more than 321,000 customers in 139 markets and owns interest in 66 additional markets.

US West Cellular is a division of US West New Vector Group, Inc. Headquartered in Bellevue, Wash., NewVector has cellular operations in 13 western, midwestern and southwester n states. New Vector is a subsidiary of US West, Inc., a diversified corporation based in Englewood, Colo.

Xircom is the leader in the development and manufacture of mobile networking solutions for the personal computer market. The company pioneered the use of the universal PC parallel port to connect PCs to a local area network (LAN) and was the first to offer a PCMCIA LAN solution. The company was founded in 1988 and is based in Calabasas, Calif.