ZyXEL Communications Partners with Merisel to Distribute Network Connectivity Solutions
PLACENTIA, Calif., December 03, 1998 - ZyXEL Communications today announced a distribution agreement with El Segundo, Calif.-based Merisel, Inc., a leader in the distribution of computer hardware and software products. Merisel will distribute ZyXEL's award-winning, internetworking, remote-access routers, ISDN products and modems through its strong channel of value added resellers (VARs) and system integrators throughout North America.
"Our agreement with Merisel offers us a great opportunity to reach the industry's top-tier VARs with our networking solutions," said John Moore, vice president and general manager of ZyXEL. "This agreement will potentially open new markets for ZyXEL and add additional breadth to our efforts in markets that we already serve."
ZyXEL manufactures a wide range of analog and digital networking products for SOHOs, small businesses and corporate branch offices, including the popular Prestige line of internetworking routers and Omni series of ISDN terminal adapters.
"ZyXEL's products fill a niche in the marketplace by providing very reliable network connectivity solutions that we believe will be extremely popular," said Merisel's Vice President of Technical Products, Art Merkin. "We are pleased to partner with ZyXEL and view their product line as a huge opportunity for VARs and system integrators."
ZyXEL's Prestige routers offer an integrated 4-port 10BaseT Ethernet hub to connect multiple computers and provide a proprietary Single User Account (SUA�) feature that enables those computers to share a single Internet connection.
The routers also support Microsoft PPTP (Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol). They can act as a VPN (Virtual Private Network) gateway, thus enabling Internet tunneling. With this PPTP VPN solution, businesses can dramatically cut long-distance call charges for remote dial-in. In addition, PPTP offers enhanced security when sending data packets through the Internet tunnel.
About Merisel
Merisel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MSEL) is a leader in the distribution of computer hardware and software products. Based in El Segundo, Calif., Merisel is a Fortune 500 Company with reported 1997 sales of $4.05 billion. Merisel distributes a full line of 25,000 products and services from the industry's leading manufacturers to resellers throughout North America. In addition, the company provides a full range of customized, value-added services. Merisel also offers dedicated support to high-end resellers through the Merisel Open Computing Alliance (MOCA), a specialty division for Sun Microsystems and third-party products. Merisel's corporate Web site is located at www.merisel.com.
About ZyXEL Communications
ZyXEL Communications Inc., (http://www.zyxel.com), located in Placentia, Calif., is a leading supplier of high-speed ISDN terminal adapters, ISDN remote access routers, modems, and compatible LAN/WAN data communications products. Since its inception, ZyXEL has built a strong reputation as a price/performance leader in connectivity devices by providing high quality and high performance at affordable prices.