Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Launches an All-Motorola Digital Cellular Network.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 31, 1999--Commercial CDMA digital cellular network service using state-of-the-art cellular infrastructure designed, manufactured and installed by Motorola, Inc.'s Network Solutions Sector (NSS) was launched today in Dhaka, Bangladesh by Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Ltd. (PBTL). CDMA stands for Code Division Multiple Access.

The commercial launch in Dhaka is the first of two launches of a $22 million, 800 MHz mobile network. The new service in Dhaka provides service to 50,000 subscribers and operates alongside the Motorola NSS analog network that serves an additional 25,000 subscribers. A second launch in the city of Chittagong in April of a 50,000-subscriber CDMA network will also co-exist with the existing analog cellular phone system from Motorola NSS.

Mr. M. Morshed Khan, chairman, Pacific Group of companies said, "CDMA, the state-of-the-art cellular technology, has become an effective and popular digital standard worldwide owing to its superior voice quality and privacy using the newest encoding schemes. Our intent has always been to bring the best services and technology to our customers. After a thorough evaluation, we selected Motorola NSS to deploy this cellular system for us. We are committed to offering quality products to our customers, and Motorola NSS was the clear choice in meeting our product and technology objectives. Once our Chittagong commercial deployment is completed, our plan is to expand the network to achieve a country-wide footprint."

PBTL in Bangladesh was the first to start wireless cellular services within South Asia in 1989 and now would also become the first to launch CDMA mobile as a platform for the third generation wireless services within South Asia.

At the heart of the new system is the Motorola NSS SC(TM) 2450 CDMA base station and the EMX 2500/5000 switch, which features voicemail, caller preview and immediate billing, and supports multiple air interfaces for versatile modular growth. In addition, it will allow PBTL to offer data and fax services, short messaging, virtual private networks, Internet service connections and national and international roaming.

"We are pleased that PBTL selected our CDMA cellular network for deployment in Bangladesh," said Anders Gustafsson, vice president and general manager of Motorola NSS's Southeast Asia Customer Solutions Group. "We believe CDMA is the right choice to help PBTL meet its customer objectives as it did for other existing CDMA networks globally and we look forward to our continued working relationship."

PBTL believes the ultimate goal of any wireless communications system is to have broadband data transmission capacity. The CDMA system will provide a smoother migration to future cellular broadband applications, PBTL said.

Motorola NSS is a pioneer in CDMA, having launched the world's first commercial CDMA system in Hong Kong in 1995, the first commercial CDMA system in the U.S. and the first in Latin America. Currently, Motorola NSS has more than 100 agreements to provide commercial and trial CDMA equipment across the globe.

Motorola, Inc. is a global leader in advanced electronic systems and services. It liberates the power of technology by creating software-enhanced products that provide integrated customer solutions and Internet access via wireless and satellite communications, as well as computing, networking, and automotive electronics. Motorola also provides essential digital building blocks in the form of embedded semiconductors, controls and systems. Sales in 1998 were $29.4 billion.

For more information, please visit the Motorola web site at http://www.motorola.com/.