TowerStream Lights Up New England With Cisco Broadband Fixed Wireless Technology.

Business/Technology Editors

NEWPORT, R.I.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 9, 2001

Small- and medium-sized businesses to gain high-speed wireless

Internet access with next-generation technology

TowerStream, a privately held provider of high-speed wireless Internet access announced today its expansion into eight New England markets. Now serving Boston, Waltham, Quincy, Burlington and Needham, MA, and Providence, Newport, and Cranston/Warwick, R.I., the company plans on expanding service to all major New England cities by the end of 2002.

In addition, TowerStream has selected Cisco System's WT2750 Multipoint Broadband Wireless System, with its award-winning Vector Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (VOFDM) technology, for its rapidly expanding and scalable next-generation broadband fixed wireless network.

Cisco's premier high-performance broadband fixed wireless solution will enable TowerStream to offer small- and medium-sized businesses "always on" Internet service, which unlike broadband solutions, is quick, cost-effective, reliable, and easy to install.

"By building an end-to-end Cisco point-to-multipoint broadband network, TowerStream can address the "last mile" delivery problem, particularly in New England," said Philip Urso, CEO of TowerStream. "Our customers benefit from our use of the Cisco WT2750 Broadband Wireless Suite which has speed and quality that exceeds wireline technologies. They can also easily provision their existing Cisco 2600 and 3600 routers to interoperate as part of their new broadband fixed wireless network. In addition, customers are guaranteed the quality of service and reliability that Cisco equipment has brought to many of today's businesses."

TowerStream is deploying a fixed wireless infrastructure with the Cisco uBR7246 series universal broadband routers at their headends. The Cisco uBR7246 series router with the multipoint line card and transverter creates a wireless link that allows TowerStream to serve areas where other wireline technologies are unavailable.

TowerStream is enthusiastic about the award-winning Cisco Vector Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (VOFDM) technology. VOFDM has multi-path signaling, which was a key feature in TowerStream's decision to select Cisco to build out the network. "The VOFDM technology dramatically increases our market coverage through non-line of site transmission," said Jeff Thompson, CTO of TowerStream. "By leveraging VOFDM, we can actually reduce our costs and time to market."

"TowerStream's broadband fixed wireless network is a necessary complement to round out existing broadband solutions in greater New England," said Steve Smith, senior marketing director of the Wireless Access Business Unit, Cisco Systems. "TowerStream's commitment to customers and to the delivery of "always on" high-speed broadband access through an industry leading, best-of-breed infrastructure will be invaluable in filling a critical niche in the telecommunications market in New England."

In addition to the Cisco WT2750 Broadband Wireless Suite, TowerStream employs the uBR7246 and 7223 Series Universal Broadband Routers at their POP sites, the Cisco Catalyst 3524 PWR XL Switches, a Cisco 590 Cache Engine, along with the Cisco Wireless Manager Suite, CNR5.1 and Cisco CSRC DPR 2.0. Cisco 2600 and 3600 Series routers are deployed at the customer premise site.

Small- and medium-sized businesses can start with TowerStream's basic offering and increase their bandwidth at any time in increments of 1.0 MB without additional installation or equipment charges. TowerStream offers competitive pricing and a unique customer-care web site supported by Portal Software that enables customers to increase their bandwidth as needed via a password-protected web account.

About TowerStream:

Privately held and based in Newport, Rhode Island, TowerStream delivers high-speed Internet access to small- and medium-sized businesses through next-generation point-to-multipoint fixed wireless broadband networks. Using advanced Cisco fixed wireless technology, TowerStream offers its customers increased access speed, flexible connectivity options, faster deployment, and lower installation costs than traditional wire networks. The company has customers in the Boston, Mass. and Providence, R.I. areas and plans to roll out networks to the rest of New England during 2002.

For more information on TowerStream services and offerings, please visit www.towerstream.com or call 401-848-5130.