Following the end of its exclusive UK distribution contract for Microcom Inc modems, Tricom Group Ltd, High Wycombe, has announced what it boasts is the first pan-European modem which it has developed and which is to be launched this month. The company’s claim is based on its decision to place most country-specific features in removable programmable read-only memories, PROMs, an idea that cannot really be said to originate with Microcom. What is unusual, however, is that it has managed to store all of this information on a single integrated circuit. The Hayes Ultra 96 modem, launched over a year ago, uses fundamentally the same concept, but it stores the country-specific information on a daughter-board connected into the motherboard. Indeed, a spokesman for Hayes expressed surprise that Tricom had managed to put all of the information onto a chip. The Tricom modems still have to be certified in each country for attachment to the telephone network. Two models, the Tempest and the Tornado, will initially be available, each of which comes in two configurations. The models differ in that the Tornado includes network management features, and is designed for large users setting up entire modem networks. Both models work at speeds of up to V.32bis’ 19.2Kbps, and support both synchronous and asynchronous communications. And Tricom has also confirmed that it will not be renewing the agreement under which it acts as exclusive distributor for Microcom’s range of modems, although it will continue to sell them. Meanwhile Microcom has said that it is very close to signing agreements with other distributors. At a briefing to launch its own modems, Tricom’s chief executive Mike Hafferty was scathing about Microcom products’ future with his company, saying they will have a lifespan of 12 to 18 months, before being superseded by new Tricom modems. According to Hafferty, Microcom was slightly peeved when Tricom chose not to renew the contract. To be fair, there was not a lot of peevishness in evidence when Mike Champer, Microcom’s international vice-president described Tricom as still one of our best buyers. Nonetheless, the fact that the two companies went head to head for a contract, and Tricom won, does not bode well for peaceful co-existence.
