Montbonnot, France, Feb. 22, 2001 -- Digigram, an innovator in networking solutions for digital audio and remote management, announced today that it has signed an agreement with AT&T to license AT&T Labs implementation of the MPEG-2 AAC software. Digigram plans to deploy AT&T Labs’ software in its newly designed multichannel professional audio codecs.

“The new products we develop from this agreement with AT&T Labs will fuel the creation and deployment of next-generation audio content for broadband markets,” said Digigram president Philippe Girard-Buttoz.

The license allows Digigram to create products incorporating AT&T Labs’ highly-optimized AAC software. AAC is the latest technology co-developed by experts in the art and science of audio compression, and standardized as part of the MPEG-2 specification. Seen as the successor to MPEG-1 Layer 3 (MP3) audio compression technology, AAC provides higher quality audio reproduction, yet it requires approximately 30% less data.

Digigram will integrate AT&T Labs’ AAC software into its network audio platforms for the professional encoding and management of audio.

“Our licensing agreement with Digigram is an example of how we strategically pair solutions and technology,” said Rich Cox, Speech and Image Processing Services vice president, AT&T Labs. “We are confident that Digigram will help raise the standard of next-generation audio services with our AAC technology.”

Digigram will offer hardware and software multichannel encoding tools that feature AAC as earlier as the third quarter of 2001.

About Digigram
Digigram (www.digigram.com) networking solutions for digital audio and remote management are key to the success of media, communications and industrial companies worldwide. Our innovations are implemented on computer sound cards, multimedia devices, Internet applications, and other host platforms. They unlock the potential of networks by delivering advanced communications solutions for data and digital audio management and transmission.

Digigram Powered products are installed in thousands of radio and television stations; audio recording and video post production facilities; corporate and commercial sound installations; telecommunications centers; and industrial plants around the globe. Founded in 1985, Digigram is headquartered in Montbonnot, France and is publicly traded on the Paris stock exchange. Headquarters for North America are located near Washington, DC with field offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California and Seattle, Washington. Latin America is served from an office in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Digigram Asia is based in Singapore with additional offices in Beijing, China and Tokyo, Japan.

About AT&T Labs
AT&T Corp (www.att.com) is among the world's premier voice, video and data communications companies. The company runs the world's largest, most sophisticated communications network and has one of the largest digital wireless networks in North America. Its services are backed by the research and development capabilities of AT&T Labs, which is working to create the information services and communications network of tomorrow. AT&T Labs is a leader in the development of technologies and standards for audio (http://www.research.att.com/history/soundinnovation.html), speech, video and image compression; electronic commerce and digital copyright management; search and directory services; speech processing and coding of all sorts; network architecture, design, engineering and operations; and other areas critical to the advancement of new broadband communications and Internet offerings.


Source: Digigram
Web: www.digigram.com