U.S. ROBOTICS MODEMS SELECTED BY COMPUSERVE FOR NEW 9600
DIAL-UP ACCESS

SKOKIE, Ill., December 10, 1990 -- U.S. Robotics, Inc. today
announced that CompuServe Incorporated has purchased an
initial order of 500 U.S. Robotics Courier HST Dual Standard
Rackmount 32 modems. CompuServe, a leading provider of online
information and packet data network services, will use the
modems to expand the breadth of its network to offer 9600 bps
dial-up access.

CompuServe selection of our Dual Standard confirms what we
have always said about the product, said Jonathan Zakin, U.S.
Robotics executive vice president for sales and marketing.
The Dual Standard offers customers the most technologically
sound, feature-rich and compatible modem available.

The Courier Dual Standard modems will allow more than 740,000
members of the CompuServe Information Service and the 320
corporate customers on the company packet data network to
establish online connections at much higher speeds than have
been previously available.

CompuServe customers can access the network at 9600 bps via a
local phone call from:  Atlanta,Ga.; Chicago, Ill.; Columbus,
Ohio; Dallas, Texas; Fairfax, Va.; New York, N.Y.; Newport
Beach, Calif.; Santa Clara, Calif.; Troy, Mich.; and Tucson,
Ariz.  Access at 9600 bps will be offered in 24 additional
cities by March 1.

Modems Selected Through Tough RFP Process

While more than 20 modem vendors competed for the CompuServe
account, only U.S. Robotics met the companyÕs stiff
requirements. We required all vendors to meet our basic
technical requirements to merit further consideration in the
RFP process, said Paul Lambert, Director of Production for
CompuServeÕs Network Services Division.

Lambert continued, We also weighed optional features and
general information to help us further determine the vendors
to pursue.  We then considered three important factors to
reach our conclusion: quality, service and value.  Quality
includes criteria like modem performance and construction.
As for service, we wanted to know what kind of experience we
would have working with USR, which was given great
recommendations by other corporate customers.  Finally, we
were interested in value, which is a function of quality and
service.  USR was selected based on a mix of all criteria.






CompuServe Selects Full-Feature Modems

One of CompuServeÕs technical requirements is the ability to
upgrade modems to V.32 bis, a feature included in the latest
U.S. Robotics Courier high-speed line. We want the Courier
HST Dual Standard to be the last analog modem that we buy,
Lambert said.  He added that CompuServe wanted to have the
most fully-featured modems in order to take advantage of the
various technologies as the market demands.

CompuServe desire to incorporate the latest modem technology
is a strong indicator that V.32 bis will be the high speed
modem standard of choice, and that products containing only
the V.32 standard will have a short product life cycle,Ó
Zakin said.
Of course, Zakin added, the USR V.32 bis modem supports both
V.32 and V.32 bis, plus all lower CCITT modulation
standards.

U.S. Robotics Courier Dual Standard Modems

Courier Dual Standard modems, among the most versatile and
compatible available, can communicate at 14,400 bps in V.32
bis mode, 9600 bps in V.32 mode, and at 14,400 bps under
USRÕs proprietary HST protocol.  CCITT V.42/V.42bis and MNP
2-5 error correction and data compression protocols are
standard features.  U.S. Robotics Courier HST Dual Standard
supports all major modulation standards including Bell 103
and 212 A and CCITT V.32, V.22bis, V.22, V.21.  The company
has recently begun shipping its latest model HST Dual
Standard, which premiered at COMDEX and takes advantage of
the new CCITT V.32 bis draft recommendation.  Suggested
retail pricing is $1295 for external and rackmount models;
$1245 for the internal model.

U.S. Robotics, Inc., is a leading designer, manufacturer and
marketer of data communications hardware and software.  Both
corporate headquarters and manufacturing operations are based
in Skokie, Ill.  U.S.  Robotics owns and operates Miracom
Technology Ltd., Ipswich, England, and Communications
Research Group, Baton Rouge, La. The privately-held company
markets its products to business, industry, government
agencies and original equipment manufacturers.

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Please refer reader inquiries to U.S. Robotics, Inc.,
at 1-800-DIALUSR.