Airspan's MicroMAX Wireless Broadband Access Solution is Accepted by the Rural Utility Service
Opens New Market for Carriers Funded by the U.S. Government
Boca Raton, Florida - October 29, 2007 - Airspan Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq: AIRN), a leading provider of Wireless Broadband Access solutions, today announced that its MicroMAX 5.8 GHz wireless broadband access solution and its corresponding subscriber terminals, the EasyST and the ProST, have been accepted by the Rural Utility Service (RUS) for purchases under the RUS Broadband Loan Program.
Airspan's MicroMAX system provides a low-cost, high-performance point-to-multipoint IEEE 802.16 compliant solution. This OFDM based architecture is suited to deliver high-speed data, Voice over IP (VoIP), and multimedia services to residential, SOHO (small office/home office), and SME (small medium enterprise). MicroMAX offers service providers an integrated access solution, providing quick-to-market deployment and low-market entry cost for broadband services.
Amit Ancikovsky, Airspan's Vice President and General Manager for the Americas, stated,
"Airspan is proud to introduce the first Airspan IEEE 802.16 compliant solution to the U.S. market. The combination of an OFDM technology in an unlicensed frequency will support the effort of rural telcos in closing the digital divide."
The RUS program was established by the U.S. Government to support deployment of broadband services in the rural regions of the United States that have difficulty in obtaining broadband data telecommunications connections and to close the digital divide gap. For the U.S. Government's fiscal year, approximately $2.2 billion in loans and loan guarantees is available from RUS for the construction, improvement, and acquisition of facilities and equipment for broadband service in eligible rural communities. Under the program, the minimum rate-of-data transmission must be 200 kilobits/sec in the customer's connection to the network, both downstream and upstream.
Besides the MicroMAX solution, Airspan offers an end to end solution for varied broadband wireless access applications, including its proprietary WipLL solution also listed under RUS and the AS.MAX family of WiMAX certified base stations, backhaul solutions and customer premises equipment.
About the Rural Utilities Service (RUS)
On March 4, 2005, the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), an agency delivering the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Utilities Programs, announced funding available for the Rural Broadband Access Loan and Loan Guarantee program. For FY 2005, no less than $2.157 billion in loans is available, $2.032 billion for direct cost-ofmoney loans, $46 million for direct 4-percent loans, and $79 million for loan guarantees.
More information can be found at http://usda.gov/rus/telecom/broadband.html
