Rockwell and 3Com Products Compatible

Only days after a new standard for high-speed modems was established, Rockwell Semiconductor Systems and rival 3Com Corp. said Tuesday they have completed testing to make sure their new product lines will work with each other.

The cooperative testing by the two computer chip makers ends more than a year of competition, which caused many potential modem buyers to delay purchases because the technologies were incompatible.

3Com, based in Santa Clara, said it has started shipping modems based on the 56 kilobyte-per-second standard, known as v.90.

Last week, Newport Beach-based Rockwell said it began distributing the semiconductor chips to its customers, the modem manufacturers. It will be at least several weeks before modems using Rockwell’s technology will be in stores, officials said.

Both companies said that those who own older modems will be able to upgrade to the faster technology by downloading software free over the Internet.