Planning for multi-city deployment of WiMAXTM

Airspan Networks, a leading worldwide provider of WiMAX Forum CertifiedTM broadband wireless access solutions, and carrier class Voice over Internet Protocols (VoIP) and Wi-Fi Hotzone systems, announced that TWAirnet
of Taiwan has chosen Airspan’s MicroMAX family of WiMAX TM products to launch WiMAX based services in Taiwan.

TW-Airnet is part of the Chunghwa United Telecom Group (“CHUT”) of companies, which was founded in 2000 to further the development of Taiwan’s telecom technology industry. As an innovative leader in the industry, CHUT adopted wireless technologies in 2002, and today has the broadest wireless broadband coverage among telecom operators in Taiwan. TW-Airnet started as a pre-paid calling card company and quickly gained an outstanding technical and customer service reputation in the telecom industry. Today, the company provides customers with wireless Internet access, ADSL, and the MOD system, a home entertainment set top box with home-banking service capabilities. Focused on enhancing its leading position in internet service and broadband access, TW-Airnet has selected Airspan for deployment of a WiMAX TM network in the 5.8GHz band in 11 Taiwanese cities.

TW-Airnet will use Chu-I Enterprise as its technology integration partner on this project. The initial deployment in Kinmen Island and Taichung City commenced in the first half of 2006. Airspan’s WiMAXTM products and services will be a key component of TW-Airnet's broadband wireless architecture. By selecting Airspan’s MicroMAX base stations, TW-Airnet will be able to deliver new and innovative Internet access, VoIP and multimedia services to its customers with greater speed. TW-Airnet will also improve its operational and capital expenditure efficiencies while advancing the network technology and service control that it and its customers need for long-term business success.

"Competition in Taiwan's broadband market has been increasingly intense since liberalization. It is therefore very important for TW-Airnet to maintain its leadership position in the market. We can do so only if we use a solution like Airspan’s, which gives us the most scalable and cost-effective tool for deployments in diverse geographical environments and enables us to create a bundled service offering for our subscribers," said Mr. Chen, Ching-Chin, Chairman of CHUT. "Airspan’s MicroMAX solution is high-performance, cost-effective and easy to manage. It will further help us maintain our leading status by providing better services to our customers throughout our network."

"Airspan is delighted to have been chosen by Taiwan's largest and most experienced broadband operator to enhance its services and expand its footprint," said Henrik Smith-Petersen, Airspan’s President Asia Pacific. "With the broadest portfolio of WiMAX Forum Certified(TM) products currently in the market, Airspan has an in-depth understanding of different geographies and customer needs in diverse markets. Our WiMAXTM technologies, already field-proven in more than 60 countries, will certainly bring benefits to TW-Airnet’s expansion."

Airspan first announced the launch of its MicroMAX base station in March 2006 in the 3.5GHz FDD band. The base station is based on the high-performance SQN2010 WiMAX Forum Certified(TM) base station system design of Sequans, and was the first cost-optimized, pay-as-you-grow WiMAXTM solution available in the market place. It offers service providers and network operators a unique value proposition of very high performance at an affordable price point. In October 2006 Airspan introduced MicroMAX in the 5.8GHz TDD WiMAXTM profile. The company will add MicroMAX frequencies in the 3.3-3.4GHz TDD band by year’s end.

The MicroMAX is Airspan's third AS.MAX base station, the others being MacroMAX and HiperMAX. MicroMAX complements the larger WiMAXTM base stations by being optimized for lower density deployment, such as rural areas, in-fill for coverage holes in Wireless, DSL and cable networks, Enterprise solutions and Public Safety applications.