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56K MODEM NEWS
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On February 6 the International Telephone Union (ITU) approved a draft of
the new industry-wide 56K modem standard, now known officially as the V.90
standard. V.90 will replace the two proprietary 56K "standards" now in
use, Rockwell's "K56FLEX" and 3-Com's "X2". Final approval of the V.90
standard by the ITU will not occur until September, but most modem
manufacturers are expected to release V.90 modems and V.90 upgrades for
their K56FLEX and X2 modems well before that.

We have already received inquiries from customers wanting to know when
BCPL's K56FLEX modems will be upgraded to V.90. That will depend on when
Cisco Systems releases a V.90 firmware upgrade for the modems, and whether
that upgrade will continue to support callers who have not yet upgraded
their K56FLEX modems to V.90. We have no information on either issue at
this time, but will keep you posted via System News as we learn more. 

See the following Web sites for more on the new V.90 standard:

    http://www.csrstds.com/pcmnews.html
    http://www.56k.com

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