Home Business Information

Nortel Networks (NYSE/TSE: NT) has established its former NETGEAR subsidiary as a separate company with aggressive plans to build on a leadership position in the market for home and small business Internet infrastructure solutions.

To assist with its new, independent focus on strengthening SOHO market leadership, NETGEAR has received a US$15 million equity financing investment from Pequot Capital Management.

The NETGEAR spin-off continues Nortel Networks' successful strategy of establishing independent businesses with flexibility to form the strategic relationships necessary to accelerate adoption of innovative new technologies," said John Roth, president and chief executive officer, Nortel Networks.

Other similar Nortel Networks spin-offs in recent years include Entrust Technologies, a leader in the Enterprise Internet security market, and Elastic Networks, a leading high-speed Internet access and mobile computing technology company. Pequot Capital Management was a key investor in the Elastic Networks spin-off as well.

"NETGEAR is committed to providing its customers with the best possible networking and Internet connectivity solutions," said Patrick Lo, newly appointed chief executive officer of NETGEAR, Inc. "As this market booms in the coming years, customers will be looking for affordability, ease of use, expanded functionality and outstanding customer service, all the cornerstones that NETGEAR is known for in the market today."

"NETGEAR has the best existing home and small office networking and Internet solutions we have seen," said Jim McNiel, senior vice president of Pequot Capital. "The market for NETGEAR solutions is already large, and we believe continued demand for home computing, broadband connectivity, mobility and Internet appliances will further accelerate NETGEAR's growth."

As many as 24 million American homes will have computer networking by the end of this year, and the home networking market will grow to US$1.4 billion by 2003, according to Cahner's In-Stat, a leading industry research group.

NETGEAR is creating an Internet infrastructure for the home that will enable consumers to connect all types of IP (Internet Protocol)-enabled products. NETGEAR shipped the first 10 megabits per second (mbps) home phone line networking product last fall, and will be among the first companies to offer an affordable 11 mbps wireless solution this year.

# posted by Medical Information : 3:40 AM