Adaptive Broadband and Telaxis Communications Announce High Data Rate, Compact, Low-Cost AB-Access Product to Address LMDS Spectrum
Only Integrated Wireless Broadband Solution Providing TDD/TDMA Capabilities in LMDS and Microwave Spectrum for Both ATM and IP Service
SUNNYVALE, Calif. and SOUTH DEERFIELD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 26, 2000-- ADAPTIVE BROADBAND(TM) CORPORATION (Nasdaq: ADAP) and TELAXIS COMMUNICATIONS(TM) CORPORATION (Nasdaq: TLXS) announced today that they are expanding Adaptive Broadband's AB-Access(TM) wireless broadband product line to include the licensed LMDS radio frequency spectrum, between 27.5 and 31.3 GHz. Integrating the market-proven RF capabilities of Telaxis Communications with the superior technology of the Adaptive Broadband packet-on-demand(TM) modem and digital electronics, the current system provides data throughput of 25 Mbps per sector, both transmitting and receiving. Compact in size, the LMDS version of AB-Access is comparable to the 10"H x 10"W x 3"D U-NII version with antenna, modem, transceiver and router integrated into one unit. With a target price of approximately $3,000 per subscriber unit, AB-Access offers an affordable LMDS solution with symmetrical, ultra-high data rates.
Prototype AB-Access LMDS equipment is scheduled to be demonstrated live at the Supercomm 2000 trade show in Atlanta, June 4-8, 2000, in the Adaptive Broadband Booth (#653). Production units are being developed and are expected to be available in the fourth quarter of 2000. Shortly afterwards 100 Mbps capabilities will be offered.
"The introduction of LMDS functionality into our AB-Access system broadens the equipment options for broadband wireless carriers and helps us to address a greater share of the ten-year $100 billion worldwide fixed wireless market," said Dr. Daniel L. Scharre, Adaptive Broadband's executive vice president. "By integrating millimeter-wave technology from Telaxis - whose LMDS solutions have already been deployed worldwide - we know that AB-Access LMDS is a truly robust system."
Dr. John Youngblood, Telaxis President and CEO, stated, "We are currently supplying broadband wireless access Outdoor Units (ODUs) to network system integrators for deployments in several countries including Argentina, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Sweden, the United States, and Venezuela. We have previously expressed our intent to increase the functionality of the ODU and now our relationship with Adaptive Broadband is enabling this to occur. The product that we are developing will be our first to totally integrate the antenna, transceiver, modem, and router within a single, easy-to-install outdoor housing."
Two-way, High Data Rate, Competitive Pricing Differentiate AB-Access LMDS
Business-to-business e-commerce requires high-speed, symmetrical data rates, which at 25 Mbps for AB-Access, significantly differentiates the product from the rest of the wireless broadband products available today. A target price of $3,000 per unit is significantly lower than typical LMDS pricing, yet enables both companies to maintain their gross margin goals. Consistent with its strategic plan, Adaptive Broadband is developing its LMDS product with a strategic technology partner, selecting Telaxis, an RF specialist with 18 years of millimeter-wave technology experience.
Operating over U-NII (5.8 GHz), MMDS (2.5 GHz), 3.5 GHz and soon LMDS frequencies, AB-Access is an integrated solution available in frequencies from 2.5 GHz through 38 GHz, with extensions downward to 700 MHz and upward to 60 GHz in the future. Although many vendors have claimed the ability to provide equipment serving millimeter-wave and microwave spectrum, AB-Access LMDS is making this a reality. Only AB-Access provides carriers with the spectral flexibility to launch licensed services such as LMDS and MMDS as well as unlicensed U-NII services over one unified network offering both ATM and IP service.
Bandwidth Efficient for Bundled Services
Central to AB-Access LMDS is the use of advanced networking technologies, chief among them Time Division Duplexing (TDD). "Most broadband wireless network systems now available are FDD-based (Frequency Division Duplexing) allocating asymmetric fixed rates for upstream and downstream transmission," notes Scharre. "Typically, the downstream transmission supports a much higher data rate than the upstream transmission. That may be appropriate for Web browsing, but it won't easily accommodate e-commerce or video conferencing applications, which require roughly equal transmission rates in each direction. AB-Access has the flexibility to allocate bandwidth dynamically to the downstream and upstream transmissions, allowing it to effectively handle multiple applications. That makes it the most bandwidth-efficient choice for carriers as they continue to bundle services."
At the same time, unlike early LMDS efforts of others, AB-Access is a true point-to-multipoint system. Combining Telaxis' market-proven point-to-multipoint millimeter wave RF capabilities with Adaptive's proprietary packet-on-demand bandwidth delivery, operators can maximize the use of precious spectrum while keeping down deployment costs.
Easily Deployed
AB-Access LMDS provides a fully integrated solution, bringing all network equipment into one convenient ODU as with the currently deployed AB-Access solutions. On the subscriber side, there are no separate indoor and outdoor units to manage. There is simply one ODU consisting of the antenna, transceiver, modem and router - all accessed by industry standard Ethernet cabling or wireless LAN infrastructure. The base station is almost identical to the subscriber unit with the exception of a different antenna and addition of an ATM or Ethernet switch and PC-based control server, which can be remotely located. No unwieldy racks of equipment and massive modem banks are required as with other LMDS systems currently being deployed.
A key result of this component integration is cost reduction. Integrated AB-Access LMDS equipment reduces overall equipment purchase and installation costs. Likewise, with fewer components to monitor, network management is simplified dramatically. Given the system's compact form factor, LMDS can now be deployed to smaller offices, residences and buildings that might not normally accept bulky LMDS equipment.
Proven Record of Success and Customer Satisfaction
Although it is a newly introduced product, AB-Access LMDS benefits from a heritage of success. Service providers and carriers as diverse as small ISPs through Regional Bell Operating Companies have launched AB-Access. Likewise, Telaxis' LMDS solutions have been deployed throughout the world including much of the initial North American and South American LMDS activity. A combination of these product histories, AB-Access LMDS brings a proven record of success and customer satisfaction.
About Adaptive Broadband
Adaptive Broadband (www.adaptivebroadband.com) is a data networking solutions company that has developed leading-edge technology for the deployment of point-to-multipoint broadband wireless communications in microwave through millimeter-wave spectrum. Its AB-Access product is a leading commercial choice for fixed broadband wireless communications.
About Telaxis Communications
Telaxis Communications (www.telaxiscomm.com) develops and supplies broadband wireless access equipment used by network service providers to deliver integrated voice, video and data services to business and residential customers. Telaxis' two product families permit rapid tailoring for competitive site demonstrations and initial commercial deployments, and also mass-production using low-cost, highly automated manufacturing techniques for cost effective deployment.
The foregoing includes forward-looking statements, such as contemplated product development, performance, availability and price, that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual events or results may differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially include, but are not limited to, inability to develop a product meeting the expected performance criteria, inability to develop a product that can be manufactured at a commercially acceptable cost, fluctuations in quarterly results, delays in receipt of orders or in the shipment of products, delays in the development of telecommunications and Internet markets and delays in product enhancements. For a more detailed discussion of these and other factors, see "Risk Factors" contained in Adaptive Broadband's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1999 and "Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements" contained in Telaxis Communications' Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 1999. |
