News & Events
Intersil’s PRISM Technology Integrated in ZoomAir’s New Wireless Hardware Access Point and Wireless LAN-to-LAN Bridge

— IEEE 802.11b-compliant Wireless Bridge connects two wireless LANs across a 2.5-mile range
—New Wireless Access Point provides advanced Wired Equivalent Privacy encryption security

IRVINE, CA, May 21, 2001 – Intersil Corporation (NASDAQ: ISIL), the world’s leading provider of silicon technology for Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), today announced that its PRISM® WLAN chip set is incorporated into two new wireless LAN products from Zoom® Telephonics (NASDAQ: ZOOM). Designed primarily for office use, the new ZoomAir™ Wireless Hardware Access Point and ZoomAir Wireless LAN-to-LAN Bridge Kit deliver easy and dependable wireless connectivity at an 11 megabits-per-second (Mbps) data rate and are fully compliant with the IEEE 802.11b standard.

Zoom’s portfolio of WLAN products are available through the leading PC product distributors, including Ingram, Tech Data, and Gates/Arrow, as well as selected retailers, including CDW, MicroWarehouse, Insight and PC Connection.

"The ZoomAir products provide affordable IEEE 802.11b-compliant, 11 Mbps wireless networking solutions for the home and business," said Larry Ciaccia, vice president and general manager of PRISM Wireless Products at Intersil. "Zoom’s strong presence in the retail and PC distributor channels, will enable PRISM-based WLAN solutions to be made widely available to the rapidly growing home and small business segments."

The ZoomAir AP11 Wireless Hardware Access Point (Model 4120) bridges a wireless LAN to a wired Ethernet network or it can extend the range of a wireless network by serving as a repeater station. The AP11 provides encryption security at up to 128 bits using Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) security. The easy to install Access Point includes a detachable dipole antenna that provides coverage to wireless clients within 1000 feet in an unobstructed environment or 300 feet in a typical office environment. Optional directional and omni-directional antennas are also available for extended range capabilities.

The ZoomAir Wireless LAN-to-LAN Bridge Kit (Model 4130) provides all the components necessary to maintain a connection between two physically separated Local Area Networks. It can be used to replace an expensive leased data line or wired connections between buildings. The new bridge provides a high performance link over a distance of 2.5 miles with an unobstructed line-of-sight. The new bridge provides data rates of up to 11 Mbps depending upon the distance bridged. Data security is provided by ZoomAir’s 128-bit RC4 and 64-bit WEP encryption.

"Our new ZoomAir Wireless Hardware Access Point and LAN-to-LAN Bridge Kit are further evidence of Zoom’s commitment of provide affordable IEEE 802.11b-compliant WLAN products for the home and office," said Terry Manning, Zoom’s vice-president of Sales and Marketing. "Optimized for high data rate (11Mbps) wireless networking, PRISM-based systems are feature-rich and when integrated into Zoom’s new designs, the PRISM-based systems provide robust and reliable performance in all types of networking environments."

Adoption of PRISM WLAN Technology

Since introducing the PRISM WLAN chip set in 1996, over fifty companies have incorporated PRISM chips in more than 100 product designs. In a May 2000 report, Cahners In-Stat Group called Intersil "the dominant force in the WLAN chip set marketplace with their PRISM chip sets holding the majority of market share." PRISM technology is designed to comply with the IEEE’s 802.11 global standard, and Intersil is a founding sponsor of the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA), whose Wi-Fi™ brand is a mark of compatibility for 802.11-based systems. PRISM/work™ and PRISM/home™ products are used in WLAN systems from industry-leading companies including Actiontec, Alcatel, Cisco, Compaq, 3Com, Dell, D-Link, Linksys, Nokia, Nortel, Samsung, Scientific-Atlanta, Siemens, SOHOware, Sony, SpectraLink, Symbol, and Zoom.

About Zoom

Zoom Telephonics, a communications leader since 1977, designs, produces and markets dial-up modems, cable and ADSL modems, wireless LAN products, home and small office networking devices, and other data communication products under the Zoom, Hayes and Global Village brands. Zoom products are available in thousands of the highest volume computer retailers worldwide. For more information visit Zoom at www.zoom.com

About Intersil

Intersil is a leading supplier of semiconductors, reference designs and software for wireless access and communications analog markets. Intersil applies analog, mixed-signal and radio frequency (RF) expertise to products that enable wireless access to broadband media; provide reliable power management for PCs, files servers and portable information appliances; and convert analog and digital signals in cellular and Internet infrastructure. For more information about Intersil, visit the company's Internet homepage at www.intersil.com

This press release contains information relating to certain projections and business trends concerning the WLAN market that are forward-looking statements as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements are based upon management’s current expectations, estimates, beliefs, assumptions, and projections about our business and industry. Words such as "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "may," "will" and variations of these words or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. Furthermore, any forward-looking statements and projections made by others in this press release are not adopted by Intersil Holding Corporation ("Intersil") and Intersil is not responsible for the forward-looking statements and projections of others. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, our actual results could differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statements as a result of various risk factors. Important risk factors that may cause such material differences for Intersil in connection with WLAN market include, but are not limited to: the rate at which consumers adopt small handheld Internet appliances and portable computing devices; the rate at which our present and future customers and end-users adopt Intersil’s wireless technologies and products, including our embedded LAN applications; the timing, rescheduling or cancellation of significant customer orders; the loss of a key customer; the qualification, availability and pricing of competing products and technologies and the resulting effects on sales and pricing of our products; silicon wafer pricing and the availability of foundry and assembly capacity and raw materials; intellectual property disputes; as well as other risk factors detailed from time to time in Intersil’s filings with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission ("SEC") which you may obtain for free at the SEC’s Web site www.sec.gov. These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this press release and Intersil undertakes no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements.

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PRISM is a registered trademark of Intersil Americas Inc.

PRISM/work and PRISM/home are trademarks of Intersil Americas Inc.

Zoom is a registered trademark and ZoomAir is a trademark of Zoom Telephonics.

Wi-Fi is a trademark of the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance.
All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.