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Airspan Announces Strategic Agreement with Nortel for Distribution of Airspan's AS.MAX Portfolio of WiMAX ProductsBOCA RATON, Fla. --(Business Wire)-- Sept. 15, 2005 -- Airspan Networks (NASDAQ:AIRN) today announced that it has signed a Master Purchase and Sale Agreement with Nortel, covering the distribution and sale of Airspan's AS.MAX family of WiMAX broadband wireless access products. The Agreement gives Nortel worldwide rights to resell Airspan's HiperMAX, MacroMAX and MicroMAX base-station products, as well as EasyST and ProST customer premise equipment. Nortel and Airspan Networks will work together to evolve and market WiMAX solutions in the frequency bands supported by the WiMAX Forum for implementations starting with the 802.16-2004 WiMAX standard. Beyond delivering broadband to users, these solutions can also be used to eliminate the need for expensive wired T1/E1 or DSL circuits for wireless backhaul and create a simpler path to profitability for service providers. Nortel's optical backhaul technology, data networking solutions, and full suite of wireless services may also be integrated with Airspan's WiMAX base transceiver stations and subscriber terminals. Commenting on the agreement, Eric Stonestrom, President and CEO of Airspan Networks, said: "Interest in our AS.MAX portfolio is growing considerably. We are very pleased that Nortel, a recognized leader in wireline and wireless technologies, has chosen to adopt our portfolio as a key element of its recently announced WiMAX strategy. Nortel is already a leading supplier of switching and mobility products to many of the world's largest carriers, and together we will be able to bring truly innovative access solutions to customers in Nortel's key markets." "Nortel is very focused on serving the telecommunications access market with wireless product solutions," stated Mark Whitton, Nortel's vice president and general manager, WiMAX and Wireless Mesh Networks. "While no single solution will suit all the needs of an operator, the addition of Airspan's WiMAX product line to our systems will significantly broaden the products we will have to match the application requirements of our customers." Airspan's AS.MAX product family has been designed for indoor, self-installable deployment of customer premises equipment, an essential requirement of operators for the economic rollout of broadband wireless. The EasyST is the first product of its type to offer fully indoor plug-and-play WiMAX services. The product family will be commercially available in the third quarter 2005. The products will give businesses and consumers uninterrupted access to a rich variety of high bandwidth applications such as networked gaming, streamed digital music, TV, videoconferencing, and other real-time services at speeds faster than today's 3G networks. Fixed WiMAX is expected to deliver end-user data rates greater than 1 Mbps - 3 to 5 times faster than today's commercial 3G networks. Nortel is a trademark of Nortel Networks. About Airspan Networks Inc. Airspan Networks provides fixed and wireless voice and data systems and solutions, including Voice Over IP (VoIP). Its wireless products serve operators around the world in both licensed and unlicensed frequency bands between 700 MHz and 6 GHz, including both PCS and 3.5GHz international bands. Airspan has a strong wireless product roadmap that includes offerings compliant with the new WiMAX 802.16-2004 standard, and software upgradeability to 802.16e from the time the WiMAX products are introduced. Airspan is on the Board and a founder member of the WiMAX Forum. The Company has deployments with more than 300 operators in more than 100 countries. Airspan's wireless systems are based on radio technology that delivers excellent area coverage, high security and resistance to fading. These systems can be deployed rapidly and cost effectively, providing an attractive alternative to traditional wired communications networks. Airspan's new i-Tone VoIP system is a carrier class, turnkey solution that provides carriers with Class 4, Class 5 and IP-Centrex solutions and has a softswitch and gateways supporting H323, SIP and MGCP. i-Tone's design provides customers; carriers, next-generation telcos, cellular providers and ITSP with a wide range of solutions with the best price/performance system for IP telephony. Airspan also offers radio planning, network installation, integration, training and support services to facilitate the deployment and operation of its systems. Airspan is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida with its main operations center in Uxbridge, United Kingdom. More information on Airspan can be found at http://www.airspan.com About the WiMAX Forum The WiMAX Forum(TM) is an industry-led, non-profit corporation formed to help promote and certify the compatibility and interoperability of broadband wireless products using the IEEE 802.16 and ETSI HiperMAN wireless MAN specifications. The forum's goal is to accelerate the introduction of these devices into the marketplace. WiMAX-Certified(TM) products will be fully interoperable and support Metropolitan Broadband Fixed and Portable Applications. For more information about the WiMAX Forum and its activities, please visit http://www.wimaxforum.org This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, including statements regarding the strategy, future operations, financial position, future revenues, projected costs, prospects, plans and objectives of Airspan and Nortel and their managements, may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. The words "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "may," "plans," "projects," "will," "would" and similar expressions or negative variations thereof are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Airspan and Nortel may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in their forward-looking statements and readers should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Airspan is also subject to the risks and uncertainties described in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K/A for the year ended December 31, 2004. You should read those factors as being applicable to all related forward-looking statements wherever they appear in this press release. Airspan does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements. |
