Southaven, Miss. to Provide High Quality Broadband Services to Residents with Metro Scale Wi-Fi Mesh from Tropos/GTS.

Fast Growing Memphis Suburb Becomes First in the Region to Provide Residents with a City Run Tropos MetroMesh[TM] Wi-Fi Network 

SOUTHAVEN, Miss. -- Southaven, Mississippi today announced that it will unwire the entire 36 square miles of the city with a metro-scale, Wi-Fi mesh network to provide its residents with high quality, wireless broadband Internet access service owned and run by MagnoliaWave, the city's ISP. Part of the network is already up and running and providing free services to residents and visitors in the city's world class parks and recreation area used for regional baseball tournaments that host an average of 25 thousand people a weekend.

"We are building the best, high quality, state-of-the art wireless access network for our citizens, giving residents more choice in broadband solutions and, for some, access where it has not existed before," said Mayor Greg Davis. "We are working with the leaders in the industry to make this happen, as our rapid and exemplary success with our parks and recreations area shows. And, we are taking the approach to own and operate the network to make sure that we have the flexibility and control to provide the best service and responsiveness to our citizen customers."

"For business or residential use, MagnoliaWave provides affordable high speed internet service at a very reasonable rate," said Mike Ferguson with McCullar Ferguson Realty. "It feels good to know that this is a home grown product and service."

The city plans to offer services on a fee basis in early spring to its residents, some 40,000 total in population, with the expectation that 3,000 to 4,000 residents will subscribe initially. In addition, the city will use the network for public safety, enabling police and fire workers to access critical databases from their laptops in vehicles in the field.

MagnoliaWave will begin the deployment in Q1 2007 in conjunction with the wireless integration division of GTS, which is providing design and consulting services, and will use the equipment from city-wide Wi-Fi market leader, Tropos Networks. Tropos 5210 metro mesh routers will be installed throughout the city on light poles and Tropos 4210 mobile routers placed in public safety vehicles.

"We are pleased to be working with the city on the design and installation of their new cutting edge wireless network," said Wes Goswick, director of GTS's wireless division. "Our background and experience in the installation of wireless mesh networks around the country makes us a perfect partner for the Southaven network."

"We applaud Southaven's approach to bring greater choice and high quality broadband solutions to their citizens," said Ron Sege, president and CEO of Tropos Networks. "We are proud that our innovations in metro-scale, Wi-Fi mesh technology makes this possible."

About Tropos

Tropos[R] Networks is the market leader in delivering metro-scale Wi-Fi mesh network systems. Our systems have been selected to unwire more major league cities than all competitors combined and are installed in 30 countries. The patented Tropos MetroMesh[TM] architecture delivers the ultimate scalability, high capacity at low cost and great user experience demanded by carriers, municipalities and network users. Our unique expertise includes high-performance mesh software development, mesh RF engineering, metro-scale network planning, deployment and optimization, and navigating the municipal approval process. Tropos Networks is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For more information, please visit www.tropos.com, call 408-331-6800 or write to [e-mail].

Tropos is a registered trademark of Tropos Networks, Inc. Tropos Networks, MetroMesh, PWRP, AMCE and Metro-Scale Mesh Networking Defined are trademarks of Tropos Networks, Inc. All other brand or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holder(s).

About GTS

Founded in 1988, GTS is a full service contractor providing high quality engineering, technical and construction services in the areas of Broadband Engineering, Construction and Certification, Wireless LANs/WANS and MANs, Telecom Network Infrastructure Design, Structured Cabling, Wireless Medical Telemetry, Equipment Provisioning and Staging, Rapid Equipment Deployments, and more. GTS's capabilities range from providing initial design and installation services to providing ongoing maintenance and support in these areas.

The company currently operates on projects in several locations including Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Nevada, North Carolina and Puerto Rico. For more information, visit their website at www.gts-yes.com.

About Southaven, Miss.

Southaven, located at the "Top of Mississippi," is a contemporary community with a respect for family and tradition. Because of its convenient location, affordability, excellent schools, quality health care, safe environment and progressive City government, Southaven has experienced strong residential and business growth since its incorporation in 1981. The current population is about 40,000. More than 3,000 new jobs have been added since 1997, and there are currently more than 1,500 businesses. Our median income is the highest in the state. Nearly 100 churches representing dozens of different denominations and family activities provide plenty of opportunities to worship and play together. Civic and service organizations bring the arts and humanities into practice throughout the community. An average of 7.4 new families per day are finding that DeSoto County is a safe and friendly place that just feels like home. For more information about the city, contact www.southavenchamber.com.