HomePlug® Continues Positive Momentum With New Officers And Board Appointments

Election Of New President, Vice President And Elevation Of Sharp Labs Asserts Alliance's Ongoing Progress In The Home Networking Space

21 Aug 2001

SAN RAMON, Calif., August 21st, 2001 - The HomePlug® Powerline Alliance is an industry consortium established to provide a forum for the development of an open specification of home powerline networking products and services. In June, the Alliance released the HomePlug 1.0 powerline home networking specification, providing a robust, field proven industry specification upon which HomePlug member companies will build compatible products to enable the connected home. The Alliance announces today it is continuing such progress by naming Tom Reed of RadioShack as the new president and Steve Gardner of Conexant as new vice president of the Alliance; and by elevating the status and level of involvement of Sharp Laboratories of America (“Sharp Labs”), making the company a HomePlug Sponsor Member and member of the HomePlug Board of Directors.

Since its founding in April 2000, HomePlug member companies have worked together toward the timely publication of the 1.0 specification. With this technology now in place, HomePlug is focused on bringing interoperable products to market and educating consumers about the technology that allows PCs, peripherals and other information appliances to connect via every home power outlet. With the appointment of the new officers and the heightened involvement of Sharp Labs, HomePlug is taking strategic steps to ensure HomePlug compliant products will be available to consumers by Fall 2001.

“Alberto [Mantovani] brought technical home powerline networking and leadership expertise that was instrumental in getting the 1.0 specification developed and released on schedule,” said Tom Reed, HomePlug president, manager of business development and emerging technologies at RadioShack. “My goal is to continue that momentum by providing consumer retail know-how to market the home powerline networking solutions. One of the first strategic efforts to reach this goal is appointing Sharp Labs to the Alliance Board of Directors, which not only rewards their valuable contribution but also gets increased benefit from their tremendous capabilities in powerline home networking and consumer markets.”

Appointment of New President and Vice President

In his appointment as the new president of the HomePlug Powerline Alliance, Mr. Reed expands his involvement in the organization. RadioShack is a founding member of HomePlug and Mr. Reed has been an active member of the Alliance's Marketing Working Group. He succeeds Alberto Mantovani, director of small business and consumer networking within Conexant Systems, Inc.'s Personal Computing Division, who served as president of HomePlug since its inception, providing the semi-conductor and networking background necessary for the development of the 1.0 specification.

In addition to Mr. Reed's appointment, HomePlug also elected Steve Gardner to serve as Vice President of the Alliance. Mr. Gardner, engineering director at Conexant Systems, Inc., has served as the chairman of the Technical Working Group and was instrumental in the implementation of the extensive field trials completed by HomePlug earlier this spring.

Sharp Labs' Increased Involvement

Since shortly after the development of the Alliance, Sharp Labs has joined 90 networking industry leaders to provide essential input into the development of the 1.0 specification through active involvement in HomePlug's Marketing and Technology Working Groups, taking a substantial role in many of the sub-working groups. Specifically, Sharp Labs was instrumental in the formation of the HomePlug Japanese Working Group, which focuses on understanding the technical issues with HomePlug's global initiatives. Additionally, Sharp Labs was a leading participant in the comprehensive HomePlug field trials that were conducted throughout the U.S. and Canada as part of the development of the specification.

“As the research and development arm of Sharp Corporation, Sharp Labs has developed expertise and leadership in the powerline networking industry, and we've been pleased to contribute to the strategic development of HomePlug,” said Carl Mansfield, Manager of Communication Systems and new board member. “We're excited about this increased level of involvement, as it means we're able to contribute even more to the successful and ongoing growth of the Alliance and the home networking industry as a whole.”

Filed: Aug 2001, Powerline Networking, Press, Co: Conexant, HomePlug, Tech: HomePlug 1.0