Navini Announces Commercial Availability of 802.16e Mobile WiMAX(TM)

RICHARDSON, Texas and PANAMA CITY, Panama, July 24 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Navini Networks today announced a true milestone as it marks the first commercial implementation of its 802.16e Mobile WiMAX(TM) software(1) with beamforming. The first deployment is in Panama City, Panama, where operator Liberty Technologies has started implementing Navini's software upgrade to convert their network to 16e.

"Navini has been a leader in personal broadband for several years," explains Sai Subramanian, Vice President, Product Management and Strategic Marketing, Navini Networks. "Some of the largest personal broadband networks in the world already use Navini's beamforming, which works extremely well to enhance service delivery inside homes and offices. We have been shipping our Ripwave(R) MX8 16e hardware platform for over a year and now the software is ready for commercial use. Our current customers can convert when they are ready and new customers can deploy the 16e hardware and software starting now. We are very pleased with the results of our deployment in Panama City -- which is an RF environment much harsher than what the standards bodies have envisioned. Being commercial in the dense urban parts of Panama City proves the robustness of the Navini solution."

Navini's implementation of Mobile WiMAX(TM) with beamforming technology is compliant with the IEEE 802.16e-2005 standard and ready for certification. Mobile WiMAX promises broadband connectivity delivered anywhere, anytime, combined with carrier economics that deliver a viable business case.

"We have now begun the process of upgrading our pre-WiMAX network to Mobile WiMAX, and we already have subscribers using the new software," said Samy Zayat, Liberty's Chief Operating Officer. "We have been providing personal broadband services similar to Mobile WiMAX using Navini's technology for a long time. WiMAX is a standardization of what we have been operating for several years. As we convert the rest of the network subscriber modems already in customer service will be upgraded over-the-air through a seamless software download." Liberty already has deployed a citywide network in Panama City using Navini's pre-WiMAX technology, along with WiMAX-capable base stations and subscriber devices in the 3.4 GHz frequency band.

Navini will submit the Ripwave(R) MX base stations supporting Mobile WiMAX(TM) for formal certification testing by the WiMAX Forum once the certification labs are open and available for 802.16e-based systems using these profiles.

About Navini Networks:

Navini Networks is the leader in providing portable, plug-n-play broadband wireless access solutions, with the largest commercial deployments in the world, over 70 commercial networks in 6 continents and strategic partnerships with industry leaders. Navini is the only company that has the patented Smart Beamforming technology, enabling personal broadband for the mass market today, with a seamless upgrade to the Mobile WiMAX standard to deliver Smart WiMAX. (Smart WiMAX is the combination of mobile WiMAX with Smart Beamforming & MIMO).

Navini's Ripwave(R) MX portable, zero-install(TM), non-line-of-sight (NLOS) solution consists of customer modems, base stations, and element management systems (EMS) that run in the full range of spectrums with software upgrades to the IEEE 802.16e standard.

Navini Networks is a principal member of the WiMAX Forum and the IEEE 802.16e committee and is headquartered in Richardson, Texas. http://www.navini.com

About Liberty Technologies

Established in 2002, Liberty Technologies Corp. is the leader in wireless data communications in Panama, and the first to deploy true NLOS technology in the region. Its product, branded Wisper, has been a clear success in the Panamanian market and has shown the possibilities of the WIMAX business model. Furthermore, Liberty has applied the portability feature of its product in many different service scenarios, demonstrating the versatility of the model, from fixed residential to hotspots and rentals. The company is now ready to enter the mobile WIMAX market, and will become the first to deploy a true standard-compliant network in the region.

(1) This software will be taken to WiMAX Forum certification when the certification labs open