Scarlet and Navini Announce Commercial Launch of Curacao's First Portable Broadband Wireless Network
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High-Speed Wireless Internet Service Will Be Island-Wide Covering 150,000 Pops in Less Than 12 Months
RICHARDSON, Texas, May 23 / Scarlet, a long distance and Internet access provider in the Netherlands Antilles, has launched the first high speed Broadband Wireless network in Curacao, the largest and most populous island in the Netherlands Antilles. Scarlet has deployed Ripwave(TM) MX equipment from Navini Networks, Inc., the most experienced provider of non- line-of-sight, zero-install(TM) portable wireless broadband network equipment in the world.
Curacao has a population of approximately 150,000, until recently served predominantly by dial-up services. DSL was introduced in 2005 and several small line-of-sight wireless providers serve niche markets. Scarlet's network is the first wide-area non-line-of-sight broadband network. "Scarlet's broadband service does not require a phone line, can be installed in less than five minutes, and is portable," commented Eric E. Stakland, CEO of Scarlet's Netherlands Antilles operations.
The Scarlet services are marketed under the brand name "Scarlet One", and provide coverage to approximately 90% of the greater Willemstad area, the main population center in Curacao. The company projects that coverage will be island-wide by early 2007.
"High speed Internet access that is robust and portable will change how and when people access information as well as the services and applications that they access," added Stakland.
"For customers in Curacao, having the freedom of portable personal broadband will dramatically impact the way people behave," said Roger Dorf, president and chief executive officer of Navini Networks. "It'll be a shift similar to when cell phones became prevalent and people started enjoying the freedom of wireless for voice calls."
Navini's Ripwave(TM) MX platform will ensure that Scarlet is correctly positioned for the future with a seamless upgrade path to the WiMAX 802.16e, the next-generation global wireless standard.
Navini has the most pre-16e mobile WiMAX experience in the world, including providing the world's largest portable broadband wireless network with Unwired Australia, which has led to numerous pre-standard deployments. "The market is clearly ahead of the standard," added Dorf.
About Navini Networks
With the largest commercial deployments in the world, over 50 commercial networks in 6 continents and strategic partnerships with industry leaders, Navini Networks continues to lead the market in providing portable, plug-n- play broadband wireless access solutions.
Navini is the only company that has the patented smart beamforming technology, enabling personal broadband for the mass market today, with a seamless upgrade to the Mobile WiMAX standard to deliver Smart WiMAX(TM). (Smart WiMAX(TM) is the combination of mobile WiMAX and Smart beamforming, which is critical for true personal broadband).
Navini's Ripwave(TM) portable, zero-install, non-line-of-sight (NLOS) product line consists of customer modems, base stations, and element management systems (EMS) run in the full range of spectrums. The Navini Ripwave(TM) MX product line offers the industry's first dual-mode CPEs and PCMCIA cards as well as base stations, with software upgrades to the IEEE 802.16e standard.
Navini Networks is a principal member of the WiMAX Forum and the IEEE 802.16e committee. Headquartered in Richardson, Texas. www.navini.com/ .
About Scarlet
Scarlet N.V. is part of the Scarlet group of companies based in the Netherlands where the parent company has been providing long distance and data services in Europe since 1992. Scarlet, formerly Antillean Network Management N.V., has been operating in the Netherlands Antilles since 1995 on the island of St. Maarten, since 1999 in Curacao, and since 2001 in Bonaire.
Scarlet has grown to be the leading alternative choice to the government- owned incumbents. Scarlet offers long distance voice services and Internet access services to corporate and residential customers on the islands of Curacao, Bonaire, and St. Maarten, and to wholesale carrier customers in the Caribbean, the U.S. and Europe. Scarlet operates a redundant and robust network with switching hubs in Curacao, St. Maarten, Miami, and Belgium, all interconnected by means of undersea fiber-optics.
For general information on Scarlet, please visit the website at www.scarlet.an/ .
Source: Navini Networks; Scarlet N.V.
CONTACT: Maryvonne Tubb of Navini Networks, +1-972-852-4247, or mtubb@navini.com
Web site: www.navini.com/
