Press Releases

Wheatland Electric Revolutionizes Internet Access in Western Kansas By Building Vast Wireless Broadband Network

Cooperative Deploys BreezeACCESS™ Complete Spectrum Solution to Deliver Affordable Broadband to Residential and Business Users Over Eleven-County Area 
 
Scott City, Kansas, and Carlsbad, CA April 7, 2003 – Alvarion, Inc. the US subsidiary of Alvarion Ltd. (NASDAQ:ALVR), a global leader in wireless broadband solutions, today announced that Kansas-based Wheatland Electric Cooperative, Inc. has deployed multiple BreezeACCESS technologies to offer broadband data and voice services to its 17,000 member customers. The cooperative’s broadband Internet access arm, Wheatland Broadband, currently delivers broadband through more than 1,000 wireless connections to businesses and residents throughout its eleven-county footprint. And Wheatland plans to expand its service offerings and customer base over the next year to include the entire cooperative.

Wheatland Electric decided to introduce broadband throughout its service territory as part of the company’s plans to ensure the long-term economic vitality of the communities it serves. But the cooperative faced the significant challenge of implementing a broadband network in its demographically sparse region in a cost efficient way. Due to carrier grade performance, flexible deployment options, and overall cost effectiveness, the cooperative chose BreezeACCESS with an eye to Wheatland’s longstanding reputation as a high quality electric power provider. Supporting both 2.4 and 5.8 GHz in a single system platform, BreezeACCESS enables Wheatland Broadband to deliver reliable, high-speed Internet and secure VPN services to more of its members while taking advantage of a single solution, platform, and management system.

“We selected Alvarion because they are the leader in wireless broadband with both a demonstrated commitment to high quality products and a proven ability to support network growth as we expand our coverage during the next year to our entire member cooperative region,” said Jevin Kasselman, Wheatland’s Director of Internet Services. “And over the next several years, we will expand into areas beyond our eleven-county membership base. BreezeACCESS allows us the kind of coverage needed to accomplish that. In addition, it delivers carrier-class reliability and is the only platform on the market that integrates multiple bands cost-effectively without disruption of our current network. The technology makes installation a painless and easy process.”

Leveraging BreezeACCESS’ ability to be customized to the specific needs of each cell, Wheatland Broadband deployed service using a three sector architecture to provide appropriate capacity to meet various user requirements. Since the BreezeACCESS CPE connects directly to the subscriber’s PC and requires no software installation, Wheatland Broadband initiates service in less than two hours and as far as 18 miles away.

“As a leading cooperative, Wheatland Electric recognized that wireless broadband is a reliable and cost-effective method to deliver broadband access and is ideally suited to covering their wide-spread user community, “said Amir Rosenzweig, president of Alvarion, Inc. “We now have many electric cooperatives following their lead and realizing the benefits of wireless broadband to improve the welfare of small communities nationwide.”

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 120 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 Spectrum 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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