First European User of Newly ETSI-Approved 38 GHz-Altium Solution Delivering High-Speed Wireless Local Loop Access
Digital Microwave Wins $12 Million Broadband Fixed Wireless Access Framework Contract From Atlantic Telecom Group
Atlantic Telecom Becomes First European User of Newly ETSI-Approved 38 GHz-Altium Solution Delivering High-Speed Wireless Local Loop Access
COVENTRY, England, July 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital Microwave Corporation (Nasdaq: DMIC - news), one of the world's foremost solutions providers for broadband wireless access, today announced that it has received a framework contract from Atlantic Telecom Group PLC, the UK-based European telecommunications group, for broadband fixed wireless access equipment. The agreement is for an estimated $12 million over the next 12 months, and orders have already been received for $4 million worth of 38-GHz and 26-GHz versions of the award-winning Altium(TM) product line. Shipments of the orders have begun, with future initial plans for more than 200 links.
Atlantic Telecom, listed on the London Stock Exchange under ATN.L, incorporates a group of expanding companies in the UK's telecommunications and media industries. Atlantic Telecom is one of a new generation of British telecommunications companies licensed by the government to provide fixed telephone services throughout the UK, offering a fully digital telecommunications wireless local loop network system. It will utilize the Altium to deliver 155-Mbps wireless interconnection in its wireless local loop network to deliver quality voice and high-speed data services to its end user customers. The customers' traffic is passed through ATM switches and backhauled into the core network fiber optic sites by Altium.
DMC, which will change its company name to DMC Stratex Networks in August, is an independent wireless solutions provider with a leading market share in the broadband fixed wireless access and mobile wireless solutions markets. DMC recently announced that the 38-GHz version of its leading Altium wireless solution set received European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ESTI) approval for shipment into Europe, providing 38-GHz license holding service providers the opportunity to deploy the industry's fastest and most spectrally efficient broadband fixed wireless access solution available today.
``Atlantic has an ever-increasing number of customers across the UK's major cities, and Digital Microwave's equipment enables us to provide these customers with high-speed network access without the delay and expense of running fiber connectivity,'' said Atlantic Telecom Group Technical Director, Ted Hornsby. ``We selected DMC's product line due to its spectral efficiency and its flexibility to operate in more radio frequency bands than any other product line.''
``Atlantic Telecom is a leader in delivering telecommunications and wireless local loop services providing voice and data communications, and we are pleased they have selected our extensive product line to meet their customers' growing needs for wireless network access, all at higher-capacity speeds,'' said Sam Smookler, DMC president and CEO. ``DMC's products are the most popular the industry has to offer, and through our expertise and years of providing leading wireless services, we are able to team with today's leading providers and help build the most competitive broadband networks worldwide.''
Altium uses the industry's highest density modulation for a broadband wireless access product (128 QAM) to deliver 155-Mbps wireless fiber-like capacity in only 28 MHz of radio frequency bandwidth, half that of other wireless products. This efficiency allows wireless-based service providers to dedicate less of their licensed spectrum for installed systems, providing for the best dollars-per-Mbps-per-MHz metric today. Altium is available in the 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 18, 23, 24, 26, 28, 31 and 38 GHz radio frequency bands, so providers can now roll out the diverse wireless access applications customers need using one platform.
With headquarters in San Jose, Calif., and UK offices in Coventry and Glasgow, Digital Microwave is one of the world's foremost solutions providers for broadband wireless access -- enabling the development of complex communications networks worldwide. Since its founding in 1984, the Company has achieved international recognition for quality, innovation and technical superiority in delivering data, voice and video communication systems, including comprehensive service and support. Continuing its focus on the wireless broadband networking market, DMC is strategically positioned to continue its solutions-based leadership in wireless high-capacity transmission technology. Additional information can be found on the Company's web site at www.dmcwave.com or www.dmcstratexnetworks.com.
NOTE: Digital Microwave Corporation announced on May 16, 2000, that it is changing its name to DMC Stratex Networks, subject to stockholder approval. The Company currently intends to legally change its name promptly following the upcoming annual meeting of stockholders on Aug. 8, 2000.
SOURCE: Digital Microwave Corporation |
