Blue Sky Net and W3 Connex Install Alvarion's Wireless Broadband Network to Connect 121 Communities in Ontario, Canada
Community-Based Network To Cover Population Of 117,000 Over 50,000 Square Kilometers of Rural Terrain
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. & CITY OF NORTH BAY, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 1, 2005 - Alvarion Ltd, (NASDAQ:ALVR), the global leader in
wireless broadband solutions and specialized mobile systems, and Blue
Sky Net, a non-profit Canadian community-based network (CBN) today
announced the launch of a regional wireless broadband network in rural
Ontario, Canada using Alvarion's BreezeACCESS VL. The CBN will cover 121
communities over 50,000 square kilometers. Alvarion has received orders
to supply over $1 million of broadband wireless equipment.
Civic leaders have been working to attract new companies to the Blue Sky
Region, such as technology firms, but most area residents lack
high-speed Internet availability and the 117,000 population spread over
such a large area make using wired infrastructure cost prohibitive.
Formed to champion the provision of broadband services to rural areas,
the non-profit Blue Sky Net secured critical funding from Canada's
federal Broadband for Rural and Northern Development, or BRAND, program
and the provincial government of Ontario. W3 Connex Inc. was chosen as
the owner operator partner for the project and will provide
approximately two-thirds of the total CAPEX for this project. mmwave
Technologies Inc., an Alvarion partner, is W3's wireless integrator
partner spearheading the designing and building of the entire network.
"We are very excited that our partnership with Alvarion has allowed us
to meet W3's requirement to build a broadband network for the Blue Sky
Region project and believe that the combination of our wireless
engineering expertise with Alvarion's industry leading products will
enable W3 to meet or exceed it's vision of becoming the industry leader
in its market space," said Brad Poulos, President of mmwave
Technologies.
"The Blue Sky project shows what is possible when civic leaders and
private industry work together to solve problems," noted Scott
Mannering, manager of the Blue Sky project. "But even with great
intentions, none of this would have been possible without the vision and
hard work of W3 Connex, the superior wireless engineering abilities of
mmwave technologies, and the tremendous capabilities of the Alvarion
solution. Our region is known for its timber, so we never imagined this
was possible with wireless."
"We have already heard from many local residents who want the ability to
go online to upgrade their skills right from their own homes, something
that now requires travel and time away from the community," commented
Brian Walters, President and CEO, W3 Connex Inc. "It's great that so
many people in Northern Ontario know that broadband access provides
tremendous value for little cost. It's a win-win, for the resident, for
the community and for us as an operator."
"Alvarion is delighted to participate in this unique collaboration that
brings broadband to rural Canadian communities. The economic benefits to
the community reinforces why BreezeACCESS is the world's number one
wireless broadband solution," said Amir Rosenzweig, President of
Alvarion, Inc. "The vision and commitment of community champions, like
those found at every level of the Blue Sky project, to bring cost
effective technologies such as wireless broadband into widespread civic
use is a model for duplication all throughout Canada."
About W3 Connex Inc.
W3 offers high-speed connectivity solutions that use redundant
fibre-based backbone networks (where available) and fixed wireless
systems that are engineered to the highest level of performance and
availability. W3 utilizes "best-in-class" wireless technologies from
industry leading manufacturers and plans to replicate its business model
into other regions of Canada and the US once successfully deployed in
Ontario. The company's website is www.w3connex.com.
About mmwave Technologies Inc
Founded in 1991, mmwave Technologies is one of Canada's fastest growing
communication companies. The company provides a full range of wireless
and networking solutions including components, test systems, and turnkey
networks. mmwave is an award winning, Canadian-owned, ISO 9000
registered company. The company's website is www.mmwave.com.
About Alvarion
With more than 2 million units deployed in 130 countries, Alvarion is
the worldwide leader in wireless broadband providing systems to
carriers, ISPs and private network operators, and also in extending
coverage of GSM and CDMA mobile networks to developing countries and
other hard to serve areas.
Leading the WiMAX revolution, Alvarion has the most extensive
deployments and proven product portfolio in the industry covering the
full range of frequency bands with both fixed and mobile solutions.
Alvarion's products enable the delivery of business and residential
broadband access, corporate VPNs, toll quality telephony, mobile base
station feeding, hotspot coverage extension, community interconnection,
public safety communications, and mobile voice and data. Alvarion works
with several global OEM providers and more than 200 local partners to
support its diverse global customer base in solving their last-mile
challenges.
As a wireless broadband pioneer, Alvarion has been driving and
delivering innovations for more than ten years from core technology
developments to creating and promoting industry standards. Leveraging
its key roles in the IEEE and HiperMAN standards committees and
experience in deploying OFDM-based systems, the Company's prominent work
in the WiMAX Forum is focused on increasing widespread adoption of
standards-based products in the wireless broadband market and leading
the entire industry to mobile WiMAX solutions.
For more information, visit Alvarion's World Wide Web site at www.alvarion.com.
This press release contains forward -looking statements within the
meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on the current
expectations or beliefs of Alvarion's management and are subject to a
number of factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those described in the forward -looking
statements. The following factors, among others, could cause actual
results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking
statements: inability to further identify, develop and achieve success
for new products, services and technologies; increased competition and
its effect on pricing, spending, third-party relationships and revenues;
as well as the in ability to establish and maintain relationships with
commerce, advertising, marketing, and technology providers and other
risks detailed from time to time in filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission.
Information set forth in this press release pertaining to third parties
has not been independently verified by Alvarion and is based solely on
publicly available information or on information provided to Alvarion by
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appearing in this press release are not and will not be included or
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part of.
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+1-760-517-3188.
Contacts
Alvarion
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or
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