3Com Corp. (Nasdaq: COMS) and Trapeze Networks Inc. have finally announced their long-awaited partnership deal (see Trapeze Could Swing With 3Com).

The multi-year deal will see 3Com rebadge some of Trapeze's wireless LAN switching products and work with the startup to co-develop new products (see Trapeze Partners With 3Com).

According to Brett Nixon, director of product marketing at 3Com, the venerable networking company has been working on the deal for some time, in a bid to extend its 802.11 offerings beyond the standalone wireless LAN access points it currently sells.

"We really wanted to develop a long-term partnership," says Nixon. "We went through all the players in this market... and Trapeze really fit our needs."

"This is not just a 'take it out of the box and paint it a different color' deal," adds Dan Simone, VP of product management at Trapeze.

Nixon and Simone are not giving much away on exactly what 3Com will rebadge and what the two companies plan to develop yet. Nixon cited voice-over-wireless LAN and security as areas of interest for the companies.

"There's real value in bringing together some of the WLAN switching technology with some wired networking technology pieces," says Nixon.

For Trapeze, Simone reckons that the co-development work will take the firm: "A step beyond traditional wireless LAN switching."

— Dan Jones, Site Editor, Unstrung