December 10, 1999 Web posted at: 2:27 p.m. EST (1927 GMT) by Douglas F. Gray

From...

The Dreamcast console has a built-in modem that will allow users to experience online gaming.

(IDG) -- Nortel Networks and ISAO, the former network business division of Sega Enterprises, will launch high-bandwidth Internet connectivity for the Sega Dreamcast in Japan, the companies have announced.

The Sega Dreamcast, Sega's 128-bit gaming console, which includes Internet connectivity for players to compete against each other in real time. The console has sold more than 1 million units in the U.S. since its launch two months ago.

The increased bandwidth will allow up to 5,000 players online at once, Nortel said in a statement.

In Japan, the two companies will launch a network at the end of this month designed to prevent Internet related problems, such as the notorious lag time that happens when too many people simultaneously attempt to access a Web site, Nortel said.

Nortel will provide ISAO with 12 CVX 1800 remote access servers, which support 1,000 modems in the chassis. The remote access centers are where calls come in, are then transferred to data and sent across the LAN.

For the moment, the agreement does not look like it will be expanding beyond Japan. "We would be very interested in working with anybody, but we would have to work with an ISP," said Peter Agnew, Director, Internet Services, Nortel Networks.

	MESSAGE BOARD
Gaming

Throughout the world, ISPs are making agreements to offer networks for the console. In the U.K., France, Germany, Italy and Spain, Sega teamed with British Telecommunications as an ISP to offer Internet connectivity over the Dreamcast.