Press Releases

Canadian Cable Operator Deploys Broadband Wireless Network to Link Schools, Hospitals in Remote Communities

Alvarion Systems Spurs Distance Learning, Resources Sharing, Telemedicine while Enabling Widespread Availability of Internet Access  
 
Carlsbad, California, June 3, 2003 – Alvarion, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Alvarion Ltd. (NASDAQ:ALVR) a world leading provider of wireless broadband solutions, today announced that Burgeo Broadcasting System (BBS) of Newfoundland, Canada has selected its BreezeACCESS™ and BreezeNETTM solutions to deploy a wide area broadband access network to link the schools, hospitals other government buildings, residents, and businesses of five communities. BBS, working in a joint venture project with multiple education, healthcare and human resources organizations, deployed the wireless broadband network to link together all five communities, enabling them to share teaching resources and enjoy distance learning and telemedicine while making Internet access services available to both business and residential customers. Known as the BBS Information Communications Technology (ICT) project, the carrier-class network delivers high speed Internet services to the towns of Burgeo, Francois, Grand Bruit, Grey River and Ramea, all of which are located on Newfoundland’s rugged Southwest coast.

The ICT project was implemented to improve education, upgrade residents’ quality of life, and to promote the overall economic health of these five communities, many of which are accessible only by ferry. With a chronic shortage of basic telecom services, local residents were previously forced to travel to larger cities to obtain essential education and healthcare services. By deploying Alvarion’s wireless broadband network solutions, BBS allows the communities’ education staffs, healthcare workers, residents and businesses to take full advantage of videoconferencing tools and the Internet for large file sharing and other important communications.

Due to the rugged terrain and extreme temperatures of the communities, as well as their great distance from larger urban centers, conventional high-speed Internet technologies such as fiber optics were cost-prohibitive to deploy and maintain. In contrast, the Alvarion wireless solutions enabled carrier-class connectivity at a fraction of the cost. Its advanced, interference-immune technology and ability to withstand extreme environments were key to BBS’ decision to select the solution.

“Alvarion’s solutions are an invaluable asset for bringing critical educational and medical resources to each community, not to mention a catalyst to stimulate the region’s economic development by delivering broadband Internet access to businesses,” said Dave MacDonald, BBS ICT’s Project Manager. “With our difficult operating environment, it was an absolute necessity to use systems that were extremely reliable, quick to install and easy to maintain. The broadband resource sharing across these five communities would not have been possible without Alvarion’s products.”

The network functions as a videoconferencing link from Burgeo to the other four communities, enabling interactive communication among schools, medical centers and community centers. This enables teachers in any of the schools to deliver courses to the children in other schools located as far as 120 kilometers away. With broadband access, the medical staff at Burgeo hospital and part time nurses in the other communities can now collaborate through videoconferencing to share information quickly and easily, which allows them to make timely diagnostic decisions and ultimately impact the lives of their patients. The Alvarion equipment is also providing high-speed Internet access for business and residential customers in Burgeo.

“Broadband is fast becoming a basic requirement for communities, especially for those in the more remote areas of the world where connecting schools and hospitals to a broadband network is absolutely necessary for them to be able to offer high quality services,” said Amir Rosenzweig, president of Alvarion Inc. “By employing a wireless solution with the same reliability as wired technologies, BBS could deploy broadband quickly and cheaply and make it available to businesses and residences today.”

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About Alvarion

Alvarion is the global leader in wireless broadband, providing solutions to telecom carriers, other service providers, and private network operators with over 1.5 million units deployed in 125 countries worldwide. With the industry’s greatest breadth of products, Alvarion provides flexible, scalable solutions for maximum customer profits. From Internet access and network backhaul to enterprise bridging and mobile public safety, Alvarion is the only company that delivers Complete SpectrumTM networks by implementing advanced technologies across a range of frequency bands. Alvarion, Inc. is headquartered in Carlsbad, CA with its corporate offices in Tel Aviv, Israel. This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on the current expectations or beliefs of Alvarion’s management and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements: inability to further identify, develop and achieve success for new products, services and technologies; increased competition and its effect on pricing, spending, third-party relationships and revenues; as well as the inability to establish and maintain relationships with commerce, advertising, marketing, and technology providers and other risks detailed from time to time in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

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