2000 IEC Conference Explores Rapid Growth and Impact of Broadband Wireless Services.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 18, 2000

The International Engineering Consortium (IEC) today announced the focus of its 2000 conference - the astounding growth of broadband wireless that is heralding a new communications era where all businesses can access affordable, reliable, high-speed voice and data services.

According to the IEC, the growth of wireless means that companies of all sizes will have access to the competitive edge they need in today's ultra-competitive business arena. Broadband wireless providers have the opportunity to serve up to 95 percent of US office buildings because expensive fiber connections are unlikely today or in the future. Around the world, the penetration of fiber is estimated to be no greater than one percent.

"Businesses in today's e-commerce world have the same needs - big bandwidth with great service at unbeatable prices," said Hamid Akhavan, Chief Technology Officer for Teligent, a global leader in broadband fixed wireless communications. "Wireless broadband can deliver the reliability and capacity to customers and buildings - which until recently could only be delivered via fiber - at a fraction of fiber's cost. Throughout the world, broadband wireless is the means for smaller businesses to be on par with big business."

Akhavan is the conference chair for the upcoming National Wireless Engineering Conference, sponsored by the IEC from October 30-November 1, 2000 in Richardson, Texas, a suburb of Dallas.

Given the potential market for wireless broadband services worldwide, Akhavan says that the race is on among technology and equipment manufacturers, as well as service providers, to develop the mechanisms and strategies necessary to enable mass deployments. "Technology trends in the recent years indicate that operational costs of wireless broadband will continue to decline rapidly, while its deployment efficiency and overall return on investment will dramatically rise. This will ensure a widespread explosion of fixed wireless services," said Akhavan.

"We are targeting a very rapid deployment that we expect to grow exponentially over the next few years," he explains. "With fixed wireless, we are able to engineer each link using practices and scientific design methods for microwave engineering that have been around for about a half century now, practices and methods that allow us to design these links for any level of reliability."

About IEC's National Wireless Engineering Conference

The IEC's National Wireless Engineering Conference is the only wireless conference devoted specifically to the needs of engineers who are building and refining today's wireless systems. Industry professionals from leading wireless organizations address key engineering problems and solutions with which they have dealt in the field, including the following:

-- System integration and optimization

-- Security, fraud, and encryption

-- Wireless local loop implementation

-- New services deployment

-- Wireless QoS and reliability

-- Smart antenna advances

-- Wireless data and 3G migration

-- Network design and management

-- Urban versus rural deployment

-- Capacity engineering

In addition, the National Wireless Engineering Conference will feature a special track that will address technology issues, business drivers, and market realities associated with wireless data and the Internet. The conference will allow participants to fine-tune their network technologies as well as explore effective business models, marketing strategies, and markets for enhanced services.

The National Wireless Engineering Conference is designed for engineers, network designers and planners, R&D professionals, operations managers, and other individuals involved with implementing solutions to the challenges posed by today's wireless networks. This includes engineers from the following:

-- Regional Bell Operating Companies and Incumbent Local-Exchange

Carriers who must make wireless service a seamless component

of their offerings to an increasingly mobile constituency

-- Competitive Local-Exchange Carriers who must implement

wireless strategies to establish and gain profitable portions

of the communications market

-- Interexchange Carriers who are looking at services such as

wireless local loop as a means to expand their operations

footprint

-- Digital Cellular and PCS Service Providers who must make sure

their networks meet the customer's growing expectations of

high-quality service and enhanced features

-- Internet Service Providers who need to examine new wireless

technologies that can increase their service offerings

-- Fixed Wireless Network Operators who are looking to create a

new alternative for broadband services in the local loop

-- Wireless Equipment Vendors who must stay up to date on the

latest requirements of service providers in the growing

wireless market

More information on the National Wireless Engineering Conference can be obtained by calling [phone] or by visiting www.iec.org/events.

The International Engineering Consortium (IEC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to catalyzing positive change in the information industry and its university communities, providing high-quality educational opportunities for industry professionals, academics, and students. To support a worldwide need, the IEC has developed free on-line Web-based tutorials. The IEC conducts industry-university programs that have substantial impact on curricula. It also conducts research and develops publications, conferences, and technological exhibits addressing major opportunities and challenges of the information age. More than 70 leading, high-technology universities are currently affiliated with the Consortium. Industry is represented through substantial corporate support and the involvement of many thousands of executives, managers, and professionals.