BroadLink Communications Chooses Cisco Aironet for Network.

Business Editors & High Tech Writers

SANTA ROSA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 5, 2000

BroadLink Communications announced today that it has chosen to incorporate the Cisco Aironet wireless LAN (local area network) products from Cisco Systems, Inc. into its networks to offer wireless broadband services to small- and medium-sized enterprises, home-based business, and home Internet customers. This service provides bi-directional access to the Internet at speeds up to 5.5 Mbps. Headquartered in Santa Rosa, Calif., BroadLink provides low-cost, high speed Internet access to homes and businesses through its Internet Service Provider (ISP) and Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) partners.

BroadLink's proprietary technology matches DSL for performance as well as cost, and surpasses DSL's reach, with its ability to service customers outside the 18,000-foot limit of the traditional wire-DSL loop, according to Tim McAllister, chief operating officer. The key to BroadLink's superiority over wire-DSL is its patent-pending "BrightEdge"(TM) technology, which incorporates Cisco's Aironet products as its wireless point-to-multipoint (P2MP) access solution. This allows BroadLink to successfully scale the provisioning of its multiple ISPs' subscribers across its wireless broadband networks.

Cisco is "most consistent, reliable"

"Cisco's wireless LAN products provide the most consistent and reliable wireless point-to-multipoint access of any of the wireless access systems we've tested to date. BroadLink is looking forward to expediting its expansion plan, now that we have this critical piece of our access system successfully integrated and adapted for our networks," McAllister said.

"BroadLink's selection of the Cisco Aironet wireless LAN solution means its customers will benefit from a wireless service based on industry-leading technology," said Bill Rossi, general manager of Cisco's Wireless Networking Business Unit. "Cisco's strength in wireless LAN solutions will enable BroadLink to offer value-added services that deliver the highest levels of security, performance and scalability."

The Cisco Aironet wireless LAN solution provides the communication vehicle by which BroadLink can deliver enhanced services -- voice, video, virtual private network -- to homes or small-to-medium businesses. BroadLink is one of the first to incorporate the Cisco Aironet product line in a service provider WAN (wide area network) environment, where it operates as the primary P2MP delivery system of wireless DSL to a subscriber base.

"We are making innovative use of the Cisco Aironet product line. Using the wireless LAN products, BroadLink provides an outdoor solution spanning three to four miles. Thus, you get wireless DSL rather than having to fight through phone lines," McAllister said. "BroadLink's BrightEdge technology allows its subscribers to take full advantage of the Cisco Aironet wireless LAN equipment to deploy a secure, robust and scalable solution that enables BroadLink to match DSL pricing and service levels," added Rossi. "BroadLink's ability to provision multiple ISPs across a metropolitan-wide, wireless DSL network is an innovative and unique service-offering."

Customer Premise Equipment

The Cisco wireless LAN technology is an integral part of BroadLink's unique customer premise equipment (CPE). Instead of installing a hard-wired DSL modem, an antenna attached to the CPE device is placed on the subscriber's house or office building and is pointed toward the antenna tower. All subscriber network devices use BroadLink's CPE as the local network gateway. The CPE operates as a firewall, enabling network address translation and packet filtering. No local traffic is allowed outside the gateway, and no external traffic is allowed past the CPE unless properly addressed. This filters out local broadcast traffic, keeping it off the wireless network. The CPE is remotely manageable. It can be reset, upgraded, and switched on and off.

BroadLink's proprietary CPE allows it the flexibility to directly incorporate Cisco Aironet client adapters. Cisco Aironet client adapters provide 11 Mbps of bandwidth, are IEEE 802.11b-compliant and feature up to 128-bit WEP (wired equivalent privacy) encryption that provides data security equivalent to a wired LAN. All Cisco Aironet client adapters feature antennas that provide the range and reliability for large indoor facilities. BroadLink selected Cisco's Type II PCMCIA wireless card normally employed for indoor mobile clients such as laptops. It has an integrated internal antenna with diversity support.

Client Adapters in W-POPs

In addition, BroadLink uses Cisco Aironet wireless bridges in its wireless points-of-presence (W-POP) architecture. W-POPs consist of a base station containing a wireless bridge connected to a series of externally mounted directional antennas that are, in turn, connected with low-loss, shielded coaxial cabling. The combination of one 90 degree directional antenna connected to a wireless bridge constitutes one sector capable of serving between 60 and 200 subscribers. At the W-POP, BroadLink deploys carefully calculated combinations of directional external antennas connected to wireless bridges to form four sectors in an external antenna array that offers uniform 360 degree coverage of up to four miles from the W-POP.

BroadLink has launched its wireless broadband service in Santa Rosa and Stockton, Calif., with networks under construction in several other locations. "The deployment process for extending this offering nationally and worldwide is under way. One of our advantages is that our open architecture enables us to serve multiple ISPs, while others can only reach one ISP," said McAllister. "The result is a broader range of service offerings for the end-user."

BroadLink recently was qualified as a Cisco Powered Network program member, and also has been invited to participate in Cisco's Beta Program for development and testing of future wireless LANproducts. "Our relationship with Cisco enables us to offer a `New World' approach to Internet access that is distinctly superior to the lower-speed, limited service available from `Old World' providers," said McAllister.

About BroadLink Communications

BroadLink Communications, Inc. is a next-generation wireless broadband carrier. BroadLink provides Internet Protocol (IP) transport and content delivery services through ISPs and CLECs, enabling them to meet the demand from their small and medium enterprise, SOHO, and residential customers for high-speed Internet access -- a demand not being met by DSL and cable providers, due to their technological limitations and/or resource constraints.

BroadLink's high-speed wireless networks, currently operational in both Santa Rosa and Stockton, California, cost-effectively deliver Internet connections at speeds up to 5.5 Mbps (54 Mbps in 2001), which is faster than 3G networks, cable, or DSL. The Company is in the process of building networks in the San Francisco/Silicon Valley region, as well as Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale, Kansas City, St. Louis, Chicago and Detroit.