Landis sparks off war of words with 3Com deal

Networking Vendor says no contract signed.

3Com has accused networking distributor Landis of jumping the gun after Landis claimed it had been given UK authorisation before the vendor had made a final decision.

Roger Paul, UK managing director at Landis, said an agreement had been reached between him and Steve Rowley, 3Com vice president of enterprise systems, on 4 June, locally activating the distributor from the beginning of this month.

However Dave Moss, distribution manager at 3Com, said: 'Landis is attempting to make our mind up for us by trying to make fiction become reality.'

Moss admitted there had been discussions between the vendor and Landis, but added: 'We have not received a business plan yet, so we cannot make a decision. This kind of tactic has put it back a step instead of forward.'

He added: 'As a vendor, this situation distracts us somewhat when we have to go into distributors and explain what is happening.'

Paul remained adamant that the distributor was fully authorised to sell 3Com kit in the UK.

'A business plan was submitted a week or two ago which the vendor now has,' he said.

But Fiona Faulkner, general manager of client access division at 3Com, said a business plan had been received only on 5 June. She said: 'We have been in discussions with the company and have come to a general agreement.

In principle, we will talk to Landis about officially entering the UK.'

Although unable to reveal if a contract had been signed between Landis and the vendor, Paul stated: 'I would not be saying all this if a decision hadn't been made. We have been appointed as a distributor without a shadow of a doubt.'

But Faulkner asserted: 'It is jumping the gun a little.'

Landis was previously involved in a similar disagreement with Bay Networks, which finally gave the distributor local authorisation in May (PC Dealer, 13 May).