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| Wireless Internet - Press Releases |
Navini Networks Press Release 3-24-2003
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RICHARDSON, Texas USA and MILAN, ITALY– March 24, 2003
In a contract worth $2.5 million USD for the first year, IBAX, a consortium
of high-tech companies that deploy and manage networks across Italy, will deploy
a 2.4GHz wireless broadband network using equipment from Navini Networks, Inc.
to modernize the Italian public administration through information technology.
This is the second major European deployment announcement from Navini this
year.
IBAX selected Navini's Ripwave™ system to offer users multi-megabit network
speeds, a zero-install™ plug-and-play modem, and untethered broadband access
anywhere in the coverage area. The always-on system provides uninterrupted
broadband access even in geographical areas that have been historically
underserved by other broadband technologies.
IBAX will initially deploy high-speed data services for the private networks
of municipal and provincial governments to bring e.government services primarily
to townships of 2,000-10,000 people in mountain areas not served by DSL. The
first deployment, in the prosperous Lombardy and Piedmont Regions, will serve
areas with no current broadband access; enabling users to access the Internet at
multi-megabit speeds to download streaming videos for schools, e.government and
more.
With the Navini Ripwave, key applications such as local police patrols,
telemedicine and video-control for the territory are easily delivered, at a
fraction of the cost of any of the traditional broadband alternatives previously
available in Italy.
Over the course of the next year, IBAX will deploy Ripwave base stations in
hundreds of mountain communities throughout Northern, Central and Southern
Italy, bringing real innovation to the country's e.government efforts and
generating enough savings from the tight budgets of administrations to both
enable broadband applications and to trigger the government's subsidies for
innovation. This project expands the work IBAX began two years ago, when they
deployed early-generation wireless access to all municipalities in the Parma
Province in Northern Italy, one of Italy's most advanced territories.
IBAX is strategically aligned with an outside installation, commissioning and
support consortium to provide propagation studies as well as site acquisition
and tower selection.
"Our systems requirements were particularly stringent, and no other system
offered the wide coverage areas, data rates and plug-and-play benefits of the
Navini system," said Ugo Gianleonardo de Fusco, president of IBAX. "We were
impressed by the recent experience of IntroWeb's Navini deployment in the
Netherlands where people stood in line overnight to sign up for the service. And
on the first day, the plug-and-play capability of Navini's Ripwave solution
meant they turned on more than a hundred customers in the first hour of service.
This type of pent-up demand exists all over Italy, in the administration, the
schools, the national health system and the small enterprises."
"IBAX is clearly taking an early lead in the Italian market by being the
first to deploy the most advanced wireless broadband technology available," said
Alastair Westgarth, president and CEO of Navini Networks. "IBAX is essentially
creating the broadband infrastructure for Italy and Navini is proud to be
associated with IBAX to further our European presence."
About IBAX - Integrated Broadband Application eXchange
IBAX is a non-profit consortium of small high-tech companies that deploys and manages
private networks in partnership with local ISP and builders of private networks
to provide full-service Internet and Intranet for local government and private
companies. IBAX exchanges the advanced applications developed by their partners
to deliver and exploit the technical infrastructure for Internet access (ISDN,
ADSL and wireless connections), hosting and other related services. The IBAX
organization is small, flexible and competent, but can quickly expand many-fold,
drawing on the resources of member companies. More on www.ibax.it
About Navini Networks
Headquartered in Richardson, Texas, the
heart of the Telecom Corridor, Navini Networks offers patented wide-area
wireless broadband technology that addresses the world's need and desire for
high-speed Internet access. Navini was founded by successful Silicon Valley
entrepreneur Wu-Fu Chen and industry expert Dr. Guanghan Xu, and provides
nomadic, zero-install, non-line-of-sight infrastructure to allow for anytime,
anywhere Web access. Navini Networks' Ripwave™ products consist of a customer
modem, base station, and element management system (EMS) and run in the 2.3 GHz
WCS, 2.4 GHz ISM, 2.5/2.6 GHz ITFS/MMDS and 3.5 GHz WLL spectrums. Navini's
solution results in a price/performance combination that is superior to other
broadband offerings in the marketplace. To date, Navini has received $66.5
million in funding from top-tier investors such as Austin Ventures, Granite
Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Sternhill Partners, as well as Alcatel, Intel and
Sanmina. For more information on Navini, please visit www.navini.com.
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