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Walker Wireless to deploy IPWireless™ Solution Across New Zealand
Overwhelmingly Positive Results from Commercial Trial Drives National Broadband Deployment
SAN BRUNO, California - December 17, 2002 - IPWireless, Inc., enabling mobile broadband globally, today announced that Walker Wireless, a leading New Zealand broadband telecommunications company, will commercially deploy IPWireless™ mobile broadband technology across the major New Zealand markets. This national deployment follows the completion of a hugely successful commercial trial in Auckland. After viewing the extremely positive survey results of trial participants, Walker Wireless placed a follow-on order to enable it to deliver broadband services to consumers and businesses in the cities of Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch. Almost half of New Zealand's population lives in these three markets. Walker Wireless will begin marketing commercial services almost immediately in the Auckland market. With this deployment, IPWireless bolsters its position as a market leader in mobile broadband, having recently been adopted by a number of international and domestic communications providers.
"In my 14 years in the telecommunications industry, this is the most successful project I have ever been associated with," said Bob Smith, CEO, Walker Wireless. "Our trial participants raved about the service. Our initial trial confirmed our belief that the time is right for a broadband solution like IPWireless' that enables us to offer cost-effective services that subscribers can use at work, at home, and anywhere else they need to get service while out and about. We envision a domino-effect as we expand across New Zealand and into Australia, because as we learned in our survey - the more people use the IPWireless system, the more they tell their friends, and the more people want to subscribe."
Commercial Trial Service Draws Rave Reviews
In order to test the commercial reaction to the IPWireless solution, Walker Wireless conducted a commercial trial of the technology from September to the end of December 2002. Walker Wireless deployed four cell sites with IPWireless base stations around Auckland, providing coverage of the central business district and neighboring residential areas.
To commence the trial, almost 400 business and residential customers received a package containing everything they needed to self-install and start using the service: the IPWireless portable broadband modems, self-installation guides, and CD-ROMs with software enabling them to self-install their modems. This allowed the users to have access to high-speed services to connect to the Internet, transfer data, and experience email at DSL-type speeds anywhere in the coverage area. Upon conclusion of the trial, a market research firm conducted a series of surveys with the subscribers resulting in overwhelmingly positive results, including:
- 84% of the users said that they had passed along positive comments about the service to others
- 84% of the users thought the overall process of getting signed up was good to excellent
- 88% of the users thought that the design and general appearance of the IPWireless portable, pocket-sized modem was very good to excellent
- 42% of the laptop users in the trial perceived they would benefit from using the service in other areas around Auckland taking full advantage of the product's mobility
In addition to its follow on order for IPWireless base stations, Walker Wireless is banking on the IPWireless technology to win government contracts to deliver high-speed Internet access to schools across New Zealand. Walker Wireless has been selected as the preferred supplier to roll out broadband services in Southland with the system becoming operational in the first half of next year.
"We are absolutely delighted by Walker Wireless' decision to deploy and market the IPWireless mobile broadband solution across New Zealand - it is a huge validation of our technology and reflects our success in delivering a broadband solution that subscribers love," said Chris Gilbert, CEO, IPWireless. "Our goal is to offer businesses and consumers the most cost-effective, convenient and widely available broadband in the world. We expect to see similar deployments in other countries early next year."
Next-Generation Wireless Network Enables Mobile Computing Everywhere
The IPWireless™ total network solution is the first on the market that complies with the internationally recognized UMTS UMTS TDD (TDD) standard. Available today for operation in the 1.9 GHz and 2.5 GHz licensed bands (the UMTS unpaired allocations and the MMDS/MDS bands), the IPWireless product line includes a complete network infrastructure solution, pocket-sized wireless desktop modems, and PC Cards (PCMCIA) for laptops and personal data assistants (PDAs). The IPWireless broadband modem and card allow residential and business customers instantaneous, "plug-and-play" Internet access. Additionally, the IPWireless network solution gives users the complete portability, mobility and freedom of a wireless Internet connection at higher speeds than alternative broadband offering
About Walker Wireless
Walker Corporation is one of New Zealand's most successful technology companies. Since 1985, the company has been carving out a reputation creating wireless local area networks, and data acquisition and identification systems. After building one of New Zealand's largest EFTPOS networks, Walker's management realized that wireless broadband technologies could solve the problems of high speed, secure data carriage and Internet access. Testing started in March 1999, and Walker Wireless was established nine months later. By May 2000, the company had secured the backing of key shareholders Todd Capital, Stephen Tindall, Craig Heatley and Rod Inglis, and more recently Clarity Partners a large private equity fund specializing in TMT investments. Vodafone have contributed half of the cost of the test deployment in Auckland.
About IPWireless
IPWireless, Inc. offers a groundbreaking, global standards-based broadband wireless technology solution that enables service providers to offer true high-speed mobile wireless Internet access to worldwide consumer and business markets. The IPWireless solution is in commercial deployment around the world by operators looking to deliver the most cost-effective, convenient, and widely available broadband that will deliver two-way data transmission speeds of up to 9 Mbps, mobility, affordability, and ubiquity of coverage superior to any broadband alternative - including DSL or cable modems. Founded in April 1999, IPWireless is led by a world-class management team of seasoned entrepreneurs and technology and marketing executives from leading mobile and communication companies including Cisco, Lucent, Motorola, and Qualcomm. The company, backed by over $150 million in committed funding from leading venture capital firms, is headquartered in San Bruno, Calif., with R&D and sales facilities based in the U.K. For more information about IPWireless, visit the company's Web site
at www.ipwireless.com.
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For further press information contact:
IP Wireless Contact:
Trainer Public Relations
Ross Perich
(925) 556-5463
ip@trainerpr.com
Clearwire Contact:
Clearwire Technologies
Jeff Mucci
(469) 737 7405
jmucci@clearwire.com
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