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News Release

December 21, 1998

Project to Develop Next-Generation Superfast, high-function Internet capabilities

-- Consortium of Industry and University Focus on Creating Global Standard --

Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT) , NEC Corporation, The Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. and 
Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. today announced that the four companies have 
reached an accord to proceed toward the joint development of next-generation Internet 
technology featuring superfast speeds and advanced functionality.

The project will have the support of Japan Information Processing 
Development Center and will be one of the advanced information system development 
test projects relating to the practical implementation of electronic commerce funded as 
part of the supplemental budget of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry for 
fiscal 1998.  To move the project forward, a Real Internet Consortium (RIC 
Consortium) has been established today comprised of researchers drawn from the four 
companies and from eight universities.  Looking to the future, the consortium will 
move forward with the task of developing and disseminating the technology, and 
seeking the participation of enterprises and researchers who concur with consortium 
aims.  The Real Internet Consortium will be headed by Masataka Ohta of the Tokyo 
Institute of Technology, and Hitachi will be the secretariat.

The Internet is rapidly finding its way into all corners of society, led by the use 
of e-mail and Web browsers.  The world is looking to the development of next-
generation Internet technology to provide an integrated multimedia environment that 
encompasses data communications, broadcasting and telephony.  To enable very large 
numbers of users to readily utilize Internet services such as broadcast and telephone 
networks in an integrated environment, a number of issues have to be resolved.  These 
involve high-speed implementation of network traffic, securing of communication 
transmission bands to ensure the quality of service (QoS), the introduction of priority 
routing to networks, and so forth.

The project will develop a QoS routing protocol that has a small network 
administration overhead, and a multicast protocol for distributing video data.  The 
results of the development work will be published at conferences of bodies engaged in 
the promotion of international standards, such as the Internet Engineering Task Force 
(IETF).  At the same time, promotional activities by a newly-developed open 
consortium will be used to develop network protocols and establish global standards.

By incorporating the new protocols, Hitachi and NEC will develop routers with 
a performance in the terabit to petabit range, 100 to 1,000 times faster than current 
routers, mainly for carrier backbone systems.  The development is planned to be 
completed during fiscal 1999.  All of this will result in a next-generation Internet 
environment that will make it possible for large volumes of data, including voice and 
video, to be readily communicated at high speed among very large numbers of users.

The project will be managed by Hitachi, and the following four development 
items will be implemented by the company or companies indicated.

     Superhigh performance router utilizing supercomputer technology:  Hitachi
     Superhigh performance parallel router:  NEC
     QoS routing protocol:  Hitachi, Furukawa Electric, Sumitomo Electric
     Multicast protocol:  NEC, Furukawa Electric, Sumitomo Electric

The eight universities (Tokyo Institute of Technology, Hokkaido University, 
Kyoto University, Kyushu University, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima City University, 
Teikyo University, University of Michigan) will be involved in all of this 
development work.

Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading 
global electronics companies, with fiscal 1997 (ended March 31, 1998) consolidated 
sales of 8,417 billion yen ($63.8 billion*).  The company manufactures and markets a 
wide range of products, including computers, semiconductors, consumer products and 
power and industrial equipment. For more information on Hitachi, Ltd., please visit 
Hitachi's Web site at http://www.hitachi.co.jp.

NEC Corporation (NASDAQ: NIPNY) pioneered the concept of C&C, the 
integration of Computers and Communications, and is the only company in the world to 
be counted among top ranking corporations spanning the wide range of fields essential 
for this vision of multimedia: computers, communications and electron devices. 
Employing in excess of 150,000 people around the world, NEC saw net sales in fiscal 
year 1997-98 amount to 4,901 billion yen(approx. US$37 billion). For further 
information visit our home page at: http://www.nec-global.com.

The Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the 
world's leading manufacturers of electric wire and cable, nonferrous metals and other 
related products, with fiscal 1997 (ended March 31, 1998) consolidated sales of 
799,243 million yen($6,054 million*). The company also provides engineering services, 
including the installation of power and telecommunications cables, and is a major 
manufacturer of optical-fiber cables.  For more information, please visit our web site at 
http://www.furukawa.co.jp.

Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.(SEI) is Japan's largest manufacturer of 
electric wire and cable. Since its establishment a century ago, the Company has 
engineered technological change by adopting an aggressive research and development 
strategy. By innovatively fostering home-grown technologies and successfully 
diversifying into exciting fields, Sumitomo Electric has positioned itself 
as a key player in the global information revolution taking place today. 
     Head Office:        	Osaka and Tokyo
     Major Products: 		Electric Wires and Cables, Special Steel Wires, 
     Sintered Alloy Products, Brake Products, Hybrid 
     Products, Cable Accessories and Engineering, New 
     Business and Others
     Consolidated sales: 	1,297 billion yen ($ 9.8 billion)
     SEI's Web Site:        	http://www.sei.co.jp/

*At an exchange rate of 132 yen to the dollar.

Contacts:	   

Emi Takase				      Akiko Shikimori
Hitachi, Ltd.				      NEC Corporation
+81-3- 3258-2055			      +81-3-3798-6511
emi@cm.head.hitachi.co.jp		      shikimori@p10-22150.star.nec.co.jp

Ryu Sawachi				      Masayuki Akatsuka
The Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.		      Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.
+81-3-3286-3050				      +81-3-3423-5625		
pub@ho.furukawa.co.jp			      akatsuka@tokyo.sei.co.jp


WRITTEN BY Secretary's Office
All Rights Reserved, Copyright (C) 1998, Hitachi, Ltd.