HELP DESK A reader asks: ''I've been shopping for a new modem, and I remember reading in BUSINESS WEEK that there are two standards and that one will be chosen by the end of the year. What's the latest on this?'' The fight between the K56flex, developed by Rockwell International and Lucent Technologies, and 3Com's X2 goes on, both on the advertising front and before international standards bodies. A technical committee of the International Telecommunications Union is working on a single global standard for 56 kilobit-per-second modems, but a decision now seems unlikely before next year. If you want to upgrade in the meantime, the choice really depends on which technology is used by your online service or Internet service provider, since most support one, but not both, of the 56K standards. Just be sure to buy a modem with a guaranteed free upgrade to the eventual ITU standard, since it will be different from both K56flex and X2.

Updated Oct. 16, 1997 by bwwebmaster
Copyright 1997, Bloomberg L.P.
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