February 6, 1998 1:22 PM EST

NOTE: The following news release replaces and corrects the previous 3Com
news release which ran earlier Friday on Business Wire, BW0025, (3COM). 
 
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 6, 1998--In a move to ensure
interoperability and universal compatibility throughout the 56K(a) modem
industry, 3Com Corporation (NASDAQ:COMS) announced today the V.pcm
Interoperability Testing Program. 

To date, 3Com and Lucent have been conducting interoperability testing.
This program is designed to extend that testing to any other manufacturers.
Under this program, 3Com will provide access to servers so that client
modem developers may dial in for testing. 3Com will reciprocate by calling
other manufacturers' servers. In addition, 3Com will provide client modems
and technical assistance to those modem developers who need them. 

"By making interoperability testing openly available to all modem vendors,
we hope to accelerate true compatibility across the industry," said Dale
Walsh, vice president of advanced development for 3Com. "We have designed
our client and head-end 56K products to be compliant with the new 56K
standard. And to the extent that others in the market are compliant with
that standard, we will interoperate." 

With the February 5, 1998 determination of a 56K international modem
standard, various modem vendors will be implementing the standard. Modem
vendors can achieve compatibility by properly going through the
initialization "handshake," making a connection, and passing data. 

"3Com is a critical player, given their strong market position, so it is
great to see them continuing their commitment to 56K standard-compliant
products. Bay Networks has already implemented x2 and K56flex technology in
its Adapteon(TM) product line, and will have its V.pcm-compliant software
upgrade available soon. We are excited to work with 3Com and other parties
on 56K standard interoperability," said Jon Sieg, general manager of Bay
Networks' Signal Processing Group. 

"Interoperability testing between different 56K technology implementations
is critical to improving the health of the modem and remote access
industries," said Lisa Pelgrim, senior analyst for Dataquest. "Quickly and
carefully executed interoperability testing will ultimately allow modem
users to enjoy the benefits of universal compatibility, which will infuse
life into demand for modems." 

At the December, 1997 ITU meetings conducted in Orlando, various
industry-leading modem manufacturers agreed to test the interworking of
their V.pcm implementation. 3Com's Interoperability Testing Program is in
the spirit of that agreement. 

Modem vendors interested in participating in 3Com's Interoperability
Testing Program must first register via the World Wide Web at
http://totalservice.usr.com/interop. Once registration is complete, the
modem vendor participant will receive the dial-in number and password to
connect and test with 3Com's 56K standard-compliant server. The server is
only available to those dialed in and is not available via the Internet. 

About 3Com Corp. 

3Com Corp. enables individuals and organizations worldwide to communicate
and share information and resources at any time from anywhere. As one of
the world's preeminent suppliers of data, voice and video communications
technology, 3Com has delivered networking solutions to more than 100
million customers worldwide. The company provides enterprises, network
service providers and carriers, small businesses and consumers with
comprehensive, innovative information access products and system solutions
for building intelligent, reliable and high performance local and wide area
networks. For further information, visit 3Com's Web site at
www.3com.com, or 3Com's new 56K Web site at www.3com.com/56k. 

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