Contact Information: For Investor Relations and Media Inquiries, contact: Charlotte Laurent-Ottomane Investor Relations Tel. +561 395 4581 Email: clottomane@airspan.com For Media Inquiries, contact: Dori Erann Director Marketing Communications Airspan Networks Inc. Tel. +561.893.8687 Email: derann@airspan.com
Airspan Announces 700 MHz WiMAX Product Suite
Meeting High Demand of Bandwidth-Hungry Rural Markets
| Source: Airspan Networks Inc.
BOCA RATON, FL--(Marketwire - December 22, 2008) - Airspan Networks Inc. (NASDAQ : AIRN ), a
leading provider of WiMAX-based broadband wireless access networks,
announced today the release of a new 700 MHz WiMAX product suite targeted
at rural markets in areas of the United States and around the world.
The new product suite builds on the success of the Company's strong market
position in the 700 MHz band, and adds to the broad Airspan WiMAX
portfolio, which already offers the widest variety of frequency band
coverage.
"700MHz license holders in the USA and internationally have been waiting
for a credible WiMAX solution to upgrade their service offering to their
customers," said Declan Byrne, Airspan's Chief Marketing Officer. "Airspan
delivers a solution to support a strong business case. The combination of
excellent signal propagation and robust Airspan equipment will enable
operators to offer high speed Internet to a broad population in a wide
network coverage area at a very low cost-to-market. We led the market in
delivering pre-WiMAX 700MHz equipment and we plan to lead with WiMAX in
this frequency as well."
Low-frequency sub-1 GHz bands, such as 700 MHz, have excellent signal
propagation characteristics where the radio signal penetrates obstacles
such as trees and buildings and travels considerably farther than higher
frequency solutions. These qualities translate into cost savings for
operators by requiring far less infrastructure per square mile. This
solution is especially attractive for areas with low population density or
for long-range coverage requirements. This frequency band is broadly
available in the United States, and is available to operators in Asia and
other key international WiMAX markets.
"We believe that this new product, coupled with our products in the 1.5 and
3.65 GHz frequency bands, provides the perfect 'trifecta' of solutions in
support of rural broadband access in the United States," continued Declan
Byrne. "U.S. President-Elect Obama has been a strong advocate of extending
broadband coverage to every U.S. community and has even been quoted as
supporting tax and loan incentives to reach rural regions. We share in
Obama's vision and look forward to serving this important market."
Paul Senior, Airspan Chief Technical Officer, added, "The expansion of our
WiMAX product range into the 700 MHz band gives new and existing customers
access to equipment with enhanced reach and higher system capacity. This
enables operators to create highly cost-effective, non-line-of-sight
solutions for broadband data and leading edge Voice-over-IP."
For added flexibility, the Airspan equipment is designed to operate in a
range of channel sizes, from as small as 1.5MHz to as wide as 10MHz.
About Airspan Networks Inc.
Airspan is a leading WiMAX pure player and the solution-provider of choice
for some of the world's largest WiMAX deployments. Developing leading-edge
technology for broadband access and IP-telephony, Airspan continues to
supply operators around the world with best-of-breed solutions. With direct
sales offices throughout Asia, EMEA and the Americas, a worldwide network
of resellers and agents, and partnership alliances with major OEMs, Airspan
boasts over 100 commercial WiMAX deployments worldwide. www.airspan.com.
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of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the
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Company is subject to the risks and uncertainties described in its filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on
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