3Com Picks Agere

ALLENTOWN, Pa. -- Small and medium businesses (SMB) now have access to higher performing and more cost-effective networking solutions.

Agere today announced that 3Com is using Agere’s world-leading Ethernet switching products in 3Com’s Baseline Plus family of switches. The switches that leverage the Agere technology are available worldwide.

3Com is using Agere’s previously announced Gigabit Ethernet chip set. One is called the ET3K, the only single-chip 48-port Gigabit Ethernet switch device featuring the industry’s highest level of integration and performance.

The chip packs 48 ports — twice as many as the nearest competing alternative – while exceeding the industry’s performance standards. This performance leadership is being demonstrated in the Agere Interop meeting rooms.

The second device, called the Octal TruePHY™ 1081, features low power and exceeds industry standard requirements for reach and error-free performance by approximately 40 percent. Also inherent in the TruePHY architecture is the industry’s most advanced cable diagnostics, with the precision and accuracy to pinpoint a break in 100 meters or more standard of category 5 cabling.

The combination of both Agere devices enables the highest level of integration and performance in the industry, resulting in lower total system costs and enabling emerging Internet Protocol applications.

By leveraging Agere’s technology, the 3Com Baseline Plus family of switches delivers enterprise-class features and performance. Networks that implement a 3Com Baseline Plus switching solution will benefit from swifter multimedia data sharing, clearer and faster transmission of videoconferencing, and more flexible and robust quality of service. The switches help SMB networks deliver 10 times the speed of current networks, at a fraction of the cost per bit of information.

“The cost savings corporations need from converging their networks will finally be economically feasible with the new 3Com products based on Agere’s technology,” said Charlie Kawwas, marketing director with Agere Systems.

3Com Corp. (Nasdaq: COMS)

Agere Systems Inc. (NYSE: AGR.A)