News Release

"Get IEEE 802"™ Program Provides Public Access to Networking Standards

Contact:

Jim Carlo, Chair, IEEE 802® LAN/MAN Standards Committee, +1 214 693 1776 Voice, j.carlo@ieee.org
Howard Frazier, Dominet Systems Founder, +1 408 436 6663 Voice, millardo@dominetsystems.com
Jerry Walker, Manager, IEEE Business Development, +1 732 562 3823 Voice, j.t.walker@ieee.org
Markus Plessel, IEEE Sr. Standards Mktg. Admin., +1 732 562 3989 Voice, m.plessel@ieee.org

For Release: Immediate

(PISCATAWAY, NJ, 14 May, 2001) The IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) has announced a pilot program that grants public access to view and download individual electronic (PDF) IEEE Local and Metropolitan Area Network (802®) standards at no charge. New IEEE 802® standards will be added to the "Get IEEE 802"™ program, in PDF format, six months after publication.

The "Get IEEE 802"™ pilot marks the first time the IEEE-SA has joined forces with industry to make a series of standards widely available to anyone who needs it. "The program will provide fuel to today’s slowing economy allowing smaller businesses, international and domestic alike, to take full advantage of this important technology," said IEEE 802® LAN/MAN Standards Committee (LMSC) Chair Jim Carlo. "Virtually every networked computer in the world relies on IEEE 802® standards. There are hundreds of millions of potential users of IEEE 802® standards who will benefit from unencumbered access to them."

The IEEE 802® concept of standardized rapid and interoperable communications is in wide demand in both the wireline and wireless networking industries. By 2003, the wireless networks alone are expected to add $3.3 billion in revenues to the networking industry. "Since this family of standards continues to be developed and widely adopted internationally, the global networking industry faces a major opportunity," added Carlo. "Rapid delivery of the standards required to offer new products and services will ensure a set of local and metropolitan area network standards and specifications that are available to all on a world-wide basis."

"Get IEEE 802"™ is supported by a large and vital industry in which the IEEE 802® LMSC is the key forum for standards development. The program was established to assist potential users for whom the standard itself could be more costly than its actual implementation for network connectivity. "The IEEE 802® LMSC understands that there are unavoidable costs associated with the development and publication of high quality standards documents," stated Carlo. "For this reason, the members of IEEE 802® have pledged their financial support to this program."

"The IEEE standards process has always benefited from being an open process in which any interested party can participate. With the introduction of "Get IEEE 802"™, the entire world will benefit from open and unencumbered access to these high quality standards for leading edge networking and communications technologies," observed Howard Frazier, Founder of Dominet Systems, formerly of Cisco and Sun.

Access the "Get IEEE 802"™ website at: http://standards.ieee.org/getieee802/

About the IEEE 802® LAN/MAN Standards Committee
The IEEE 802® LAN/MAN Standards Committee is an international standards development committee with greater than 1000 experts worldwide, developing Local Area Network and Metropolitan Area Network standards. The most widely used standards are for the Ethernet family, Token Ring, Wireless LAN, Bridging and Virtual Bridged LANs. The IEEE 802® LMSC is sponsored by the IEEE Computer Society and submits standards through the IEEE Standards Association. There are about fifty IEEE 802® LAN/MAN Standards and five major ISO/IEC/JTC1 8802 series equivalent standards covering the broad spectrum of LAN/MAN standards.

About the IEEE Standards Association
The IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) is an international membership organization serving today's industries with a complete portfolio of standards programs. The IEEE-SA is a major contributor to the IEEE, which is the world's largest technical professional society. IEEE-SA membership, through its IEEE association, promotes the engineering process by creating, developing, integrating, sharing and applying knowledge about electro- and information technologies and sciences for the benefit of humanity and the profession. More information is found at http://standards.ieee.org/sa-mem/index.html.

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