Press Release

devolo reduces HomePlug product prices

Aachen, April 5, 2004—As of April 1, devolo AG of Aachen, Germany has reduced the prices of its dLAN range of products (“direct Local Area Network”) that use existing in-house electrical wiring for data and audio transmission. The MicroLink dLAN Starter Kit with two Ethernet adapters, for example, is now down from EUR 169.90 to just EUR 129.90. The boom in HomePlug technology in recent months and, as the company reports, its increased sales volumes have made the price reductions possible.

“The overwhelming interest in our MicroLink dLAN products that we saw at CeBIT this year has again demonstrated that HomePlug is the third technology—along with Fast Ethernet and Wireless LAN—to become established in the home networking market”, said Heiko Harbers, CEO of devolo AG in Aachen, Germany. This is clearly evident from the monthly sales figures achieved by the company, which the GfK market research group identified as the German market leader.

“Using existing in-house electrical wiring for networking has significant advantages, particularly where Wireless LAN literally reaches its limits, such as with the thick walls and steel-reinforced flooring typical of German architecture”, emphasised Harbers. And unlike conventional Ethernet installations, new cabling and the associated drilling through walls and ceilings are simply not necessary.

Devolo aims to accelerate the acceptance of HomePlug technology as these price reductions increase the competitive advantage over other technologies. The following recommended retail prices (including VAT) apply as of April 1, 2004:

Background devolo AG

devolo AG was founded in 2002 in Aachen, Germany, and specialises in the development of communications solutions for private consumers and industrial applications. The product range includes networking products, analogue modems, DSL modems and ISDN adapters. Along with the Internet-access products, the networking products of the MicroLink dLAN line are particularly successful. These adapters work with the international HomePlug standard and have helped the Company to successfully establish a new technology in the market—data transfer via the existing household power circuit. In 2003, devolo achieved the German market leadership in the segments for analogue modems and HomePlug adapters.