Bull HN Information Systems — 00:00:62 (MA-L)

OUI 00:00:62 belongs to "BULL HN INFORMATION SYSTEMS," the United States arm of the Honeywell–Bull–NEC computing consortium, registered to the legacy address 300 Concord Road M/S 864A, Billerica, MA 01821, US (the firm's operational headquarters later moved to nearby Chelmsford, MA). The "HN" suffix stood for Honeywell–NEC; the Bull HN name was adopted in January 1989 when the joint venture dropped the Honeywell branding, with French parent Groupe Bull having become majority shareholder in December 1988 alongside Honeywell Inc. and NEC Corp. The block was registered for Ethernet interfaces embedded in or bundled with general-purpose computing hardware — primarily DPS-series GCOS mainframes (DPS-6, DPS-7, DPS-9000) and, from 1994, the PowerPC-based Escala Unix server line — rather than dedicated networking gear. As a low-numbered 00:00:xx assignment it sits in the early Ethernet vendor-code range, consistent with 1980s-era allocation, though IEEE publishes no assignment date so this dating is inferential from block position. Practically, any device presenting 00:00:62 today is legacy/end-of-life hardware: decommissioned or museum-grade 1980s–1990s mainframes and early Unix servers, not a current threat surface. The standalone US entity was withdrawn by merger and no longer operates independently; parent Groupe Bull was acquired by Atos in 2014 and its assets returned to French state ownership as of March 2026. Do not attribute a "registration date" to this OUI — IEEE publishes none, and third-party "date registered" figures are database artifacts.

IEEE assignment

00:00:62 → BULL HN INFORMATION SYSTEMS, Billerica, MA, US [Confirmed] — IEEE MA-L (line 874); hwaddress.com/mac-address-range/00-00-62-00-00-00/00-00-62-FF-FF-FF/

Registry / block size

MA-L (24-bit OUI) [Confirmed] — IEEE the IEEE MA-L registry. NOTE: IEEE's public OUI data publishes NO assignment/registration date (the IEEE MA-L registry columns are only Registry, Assignment, Organization Name, Organization Address); any "date registered" on third-party tools is a database artifact, not an IEEE fact. The 00:00:xx block position is consistent with 1980s-era allocation but the exact year is not published.

Registered address / country

300 Concord Road M/S 864A, Billerica, MA 01821, US (OUI registry address; operational HQ later moved to 285 Billerica Road, Chelmsford, MA 01824) [Confirmed] — IEEE MA-L; hwaddress.com

Company background

US subsidiary of Groupe Bull (France), itself founded 1931 (punched-card technology, Norwegian engineer Fredrik Rosing Bull). The US line traces through Honeywell Information Systems → the Honeywell–Bull joint venture; Groupe Bull became majority shareholder December 1988 (partners: Groupe Bull, Honeywell Inc., NEC Corp.). "HN" = Honeywell–NEC. The "Bull HN Information Systems" name was adopted January 1989 when Honeywell branding was dropped.

[Confirmed] — upi.com/Archives/1989/01/31; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupe_Bull; opencorporates.com/companies/us_ma/410962923

Company status

Defunct as a standalone US entity — withdrawn by merger. Parent Groupe Bull continues; acquired by Atos in 2014, returned to French state ownership as of March 2026. [Confirmed] — opencorporates.com/companies/us_ma/410962923; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupe_Bull

Device types

Mainframe computers (DPS-6, DPS-7, DPS-9000 / GCOS 8) and Unix servers (Escala PowerPC-based servers, launched 1994). OUI 00:00:62 covers Ethernet NICs/adapters integrated into or bundled with these systems — not dedicated networking equipment.

[Confirmed] — en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupe_Bull; hpcwire.com/1996/02/02/bull-offers-a-powerpc-smp-server-the-escala/

Notable products

DPS-6, DPS-7, DPS-9000 (GCOS 8 mainframes); Escala PowerPC SMP servers (1994, AIX); GCOS operating-system family. The Billerica/Chelmsford, MA facility was the primary US engineering site.

[Confirmed] — en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupe_Bull; hpcwire.com/1996/02/02/bull-offers-a-powerpc-smp-server-the-escala/

Industry

Enterprise computing — mainframes, Unix servers, high-performance / general-purpose IT infrastructure. [Confirmed] — en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupe_Bull

Vendor website

https://www.bull.com (Atos/Bull France; the original Bull HN US entity no longer maintains an active site) [Likely] — no first-party US source surfaced

Related vendors

Groupe Bull / Bull S.A.S. parent at OUI 08:00:38 (MA-L); newer Bull Group Co., Ltd at C4:11:E0 (MA-L) — the "bull-hn" slug maps specifically to 00:00:62. [Confirmed assignment of the related blocks] — IEEE the IEEE MA-L registry

Security context

No active security context — legacy/end-of-life hardware (1980s–1990s mainframes and early Unix servers). No CVEs specifically attributed to Bull HN Information Systems surfaced in this pass. Treat as historical/legacy, not a current threat surface. [Likely] — research pass, no CVE found

IANA reference

None applicable to this OUI entry — IANA Reference column left blank. [Confirmed] — no IANA RFC applies

Analyst note

Bull HN is a late-1980s–1990s US branding for the American arm of the Groupe Bull / Honeywell / NEC consortium. The 00:00:62 prefix would appear on Ethernet adapters inside DPS mainframes or Escala servers of that era. Any third-party "date registered" figure is a database artifact — IEEE publishes no OUI assignment dates. Entity absorbed/merged; no active security concern.