AT&T Announces Debut in Computer Business

Dow Jones News Service

March 27, 1984

New York -- AMERICAN TELEPHONE & TELEGRAPH CO. ANNOUNCED ITS ENTRY INTO THE GENERAL-PURPOSE COMPUTER BUSINESS WITH A LINE OF PRODUCTS IT SAID WILL BE THE FIRST OF SEVERAL ANNOUNCED THIS YEAR.

AMONG THOSE INTRODUCED TODAY WERE SIX DIFFERENT MODELS OF AT&T'S 3B COMPUTERS, RANGING FROM A DESKTOP MULTI-USER "SUPERMICRO" COMPUTER TO A "SUPERMINI" THE COMPANY CLAIMS SETS A NEW UPTIME STANDARD. THE NEW LINE ALSO INCLUDES TWO NETWORKING PRODUCTS.

AT&T VICE CHAIRMAN JAMES E. OLSON SAID THE COMPANY'S INITIAL MARKETING EFFORTS FOR ITS COMPUTERS WILL BE AIMED AT RESELLERS--VENDORS WHO ADD FEATURES TO THE COMPUTER AND THEN SELL IT TO END USERS--BOTH IN THE U.S. AND EUROPE.

ALSO, AT&T SAID THAT IT IS TARGETING DATA-PROCESSING USERS CAPABLE OF SUPPLYING THEIR OWN APPLICATION SOFTWARE FOR THE 3B COMPUTER, ALL OF WHICH RUN ON AT&T'S UNIX 5 OPERATING SYSTEM.

"THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING," OLSON SAID. "I CAN ASSURE YOU WE PLAN TO MOVE AS FAST AS WE CAN TO MAKE OUR COMPUTER PRODUCTS AVAILABLE TO ALL TYPES OF CUSTOMERS."

AT&T FOR THE PAST YEAR HAS BEEN PUSHING TO HAVE UNIX ADOPTED AS AN INDUSTRY STANDARD AND TODAY IT CLAIMED THAT IT HAS BEEN "VERY SUCCESSFUL."

JACK M. SCANLON, VICE PRESIDENT, COMPUTER SYSTEMS, SAID THAT &T HAS BEEN MAKING THE 3B LINE OF COMPUTERS FOR USE INTERNALLY AND IN THE BELL OPERATING COMPANIES. THAT, HE SAID, GIVES THE COMPANY A HEAD START IN SERVING THE OUTSIDE MARKET.

THE COMPUTERS WILL BE PRODUCED BY AT&T'S MANUFACTURING DIVISION, FORMERLY KNOWN AS WESTERN ELECTRIC. SCNALON SAID THERE WOULDN'T BE ANY NEED TO ADD EMPLOYEES TO HANDLE THE PRODUCTION. AT&T HAS SUFFICIENT CAPACITY TO HANDLE THE MANUFACTURING AND FINAL ASSEMBLY OF THE COMPUTERS, HE SAID.

THE COMPANY IS EXPANDING ITS CAPACITY FOR MANUFACTURING OF SEMICONDUCTORS BY ADDING A THIRD FACILITY IN ORLANDO, FLA. TWO OTHERS, IN ALLENTOWN, PA., AND KANSAS CITY, MO., ARE ALREADY PRODUCING SEMICONDUCTORS, HEADED.

SCANLON SAID THAT THE REGIONAL BELL OPERATING COMPANIES MAY BECOME CUSTOMERS FOR AT&T'S COMPUTERS BECAUSE THE REGIONALS ARE SETTING UP SUBSIDIARIES TOSELL COMPUTER EQUIPMENT.

AT&T SAID IT ALREADY HAS TRAINED 800 SALES REPRESENTATIVES AND TECHNICAL CONSULTANTS TO SELL ITS COMPUTER PRODUCTS, AND WILL HAVE A SALES FORCE OF 6,000 BY YEAR-END.

OLSON NOTED THAT ING. C. OLIVETTI & CO. WOULD HANDLE AT&T'S EUROPEAN MARKETING EFFORTS AND THAT OLIVETTI WOULD MAKE FURTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS ON ITS ROLE SHORTLY.

AT&T FACES PLENTY OF COMPETITION IN THE MINICOMPUTER MARKET, INCLUDING INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP., DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORP. DATA GENERAL CORP., WANG LABORATORIES INC. AND HEWLETT-PACKARD CO.

IBM DECLINED TO DISCUSS THE SPECIFICS OF AT&T'S ANNOUNCEMENT. HOWEVER, A SPOKESMAN SAID THAT IT "WASN'T UNEXPECTED."

A DIGITAL EQUIPMENT SPOKESMAN SAID HE COULDN'T COMMENT DIRECTLY ON AT&T'S PRODUCT BECAUSE HE HADN'T SEEN THE SPECIFICS. HE ADDED, HOWEVER, THAT DIGITAL "RESPECTS THE TELEPHONE COMPANY'S EXPERTISE, AND BELL LABS. IT CERTAINLY WILL MAKE AN ALREADY-COMPETITIVE MARKET EVEN MORE INTERESTING."

NEW YORK -DJ- AMERICAN TELEPHONE & TELEGRAPH CO. GAVE THIS SUMMARY OF ITS NEW COMPUTER PRODUCTS AND THEIR FEATURES AND APPLICATIONS:

- THE 3B20D COMPUTER OFFERS THE PROVIDES TIME-SHARING, REAL-TIME AND FAULT-TOLERANT FEATURES. IT IS PARTICULARLY SUITED, AT&T SAID FOR APPLICATIONS WHERE DOWNTIME CAN BE CRITICAL, SUCH AS BANKING, FINANCIAL SERVICES, RESERVATIONS SYSTEMS AND MILITARY OPERATIONS. - THE 3B20S COMPUTER, DESCRIBED AS A HIGH-END "SUPERMINICOMPUTER" DESIGNED TO SUPPORT DATA CENTERS AND OFFICE-SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS AND TO PROVIDE UNINTERRUPTED OPERATION THROUGH MOST COMMERCIAL POWER FAILURES. MORE THAN 1,200 OF THESE ARE IN SERVICE IN AT&T AND BELL TELEPHONE OPERATING COMPANIES.

- THE 3B20A COMPUTER, AN ENHANCED VERSION OF THE 3B20S WITH NEARLY DOUBLE THE PROCESSING POWER AT "A MODEST PRICE INCREASE." IT CAN BE ORDERED AS A COMPLETE SYSTEM, OR A 3B20S CAN BE EXPANDED INTO A 3B20A ON-SITE BY THE ADDITION OF A MODULE, AT&T SAID.

- THE 3B5 COMPUTER, DESCRIBED AS A MID-RANGE SUPERMINICOMPUTER FOR OFFICE USE. IT USES THE AT&T'S WE 320000 MICROPROCESSOR AND OFFERS THE UNIX NETWORKING SYSTEM. TWO VERSIONS ARE BEING OFFERED: MODEL 100, WHICH SERVES ABOUT 30 USERS, AND MODEL 200, WHICH CAN ACCOMMODATE UP TO 60 USERS. A MODEL 100 CAN BE CONVERTED TO A MODEL 200 BY ADDING A MODULE.

- THE 3B2 COMPUTER, A DESKTOP MULTI-USER SUPERMICROCOMPUTER WITH 32-BIT ARCHITECTURE AND 256K MEMORY. IT CAN HANDLE UP TO 18 USERS OR CAN BE CONFIGURED AS A SINGLE-USER SYSTEM, AT&T SAID. - THE 3B NET, A HIGH-SPEED NETWORK THAT TIES AT&T 3B COMPUTERS TOGETHER AND INTERFACES TO XEROX CORP.'S ETHERNET STANDARD.

- THE PC INTERFACE, WHICH CONNECTS THE 3B2-300 TO PERSONAL COMPUTERS COMPATIBLE WITH INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP.'S MODEL. THIS NETWORKING ALSO ALLOWS PCS TO SHARE EXPENSIVE COMPUTER PERIPHERALS, SUCH AS HARD DISKS AND PRINTERS, AT&T SAID.

THE FIRST PUBLIC SHOWING OF AT&T'S COMPUTERS WILL BE AT COMDEX WINTER '84, A TRADE SHOW IN LOS ANGELES SCHEDULED FOR APRIL 5-7, THE COMPANY SAID.

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