Broadband Wireless Internet Forum Expands Membership Opportunities, Sets London Meeting, Presents At Upcoming Conferences.

Business Editors

PISCATAWAY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 19, 2000

In a packed two-day session, the Broadband Wireless Internet Forum (BWIF) outlined an ambitious advocacy program aimed at setting industry standards for broadband wireless access to the Internet, streaming audio and video and voice communication. "Industry leaders are coming together under the BWIF umbrella because they understand that unified standards will reduce everyone's cost, and speed adoption of the next generation of high speed communications," said Ender Ayanoglu, BWIF chairman.

New Membership Category

In order to expand industry input into the standards setting process, the BWIF Board of Directors adopted a new "Advisor" membership category for fixed wireless service providers and operators. Advisor members will be able to participate in the Forum's activities and provide the Forum with assistance in developing technical requirements.

BWIF Open Meeting in London

BWIF held its first meeting only this past August in Denver. That meeting was followed by another in Dallas and then a San Diego meeting this past week. The next Open Meeting will be held in London and will offer participants the opportunity to gain a complete understanding of BWIF's goals and organizational structure. With the issuance of fixed wireless licenses in Europe almost complete there is an enormous demand for a cost-effective access system.

"BWIF has already made significant progress in defining and deploying a standardized solution," said Chris Cabot, Chairman of the BWIF European Marketing Subcommittee. "The BWIF is a global organization and we welcome the opportunity to present what BWIF is and what it has achieved to a European audience."

The First BWIF European Open meeting will be held at the Langham Hilton Hotel in London on January 30, 2001. Information regarding this Open Meeting can be accessed at http://www.BWIF.org/. The meeting will be open to all industry participants, but advance registration is required.

Upcoming BWIF Presentations

In addition to the BWIF meetings, Forum members will also be presenting information about the organization and its goals at several upcoming industry events. The first will be the Wireless Communications Association's Technical Symposium, "Xtreme Wireless Technology." This conference will be held January 17-19 in San Jose, California. Information on the conference is available at www.wcai.com

Forum members will also be presenting a program at the Broadband Wireless World Forum in San Francisco, February 19-21, 2001. Information on this conference is available at www.broadband-wireless.com.

Global Membership

The global membership of the BWIF has grown to 38 companies who are actively participating in the activities of the Forum, and working toward market implementations of the BWIF specifications. The BWIF Membership includes: Adicom Wireless, Agilent Technologies, Analog Devices, Andrew Corporation, Bechtel, Broadcom Corporation, BroadTel Communications, California Amplifier, CelPlan Technologies, Cisco Systems, Inc., Correlant Communications, DragonWave, Fluor Corporation, Getronics, Intensicom, Inc., LCC International, Magnolia Broadband, Moseley, National Semiconductor, nBand Communications, NetVoice, Oren Semiconductor, Pace Micro Technology, PipingHot Networks, Redback Networks, REMEC, RF Solutions, Signal Technology Corporation, Spike Broadband Systems, SR Telecom, Telaxis Communications, Texas Instruments, Toshiba, Unique Broadband Systems, Inc., WaveIP, WFI (Wireless Facilities, Inc.), WJ Communications and ZyGate.

About BWIF

The Broadband Wireless Internet Forum (BWIF) is a program of the IEEE Industry Standards and Technology Organization (IEEE-ISTO - www.IEEE-ISTO.org). The standard setting work of the Forum is based on utilizing Vector Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (VOFDM), BWIF's technology foundation for the development of fixed broadband wireless specifications. The BWIF-approved Version 1.0 Specifications have been available since late August 2000 to BWIF members.

BWIF is an incorporated not-for-profit association of industry-leading companies. Members of BWIF are committed to drive product roadmaps that will lower product costs, simplify deployment of advanced services, and ensure the availability of interoperable solutions based on VOFDM technology. BWIF members agree to cross-license to other BWIF members the technologies required to implement the VOFDM specifications on a worldwide, royalty-free basis. The goal of BWIF is to facilitate cost-effective, broadband wireless access solutions, with industry leading performance and reliability for compelling end-user applications such as high-speed Internet access, premium streaming audio and video content, and voice.

For further information about the BWIF, visit http://www.BWIF.org, or contact Peter Lefkin, BWIF executive director at [phone] or [e-mail].