New SmartShare Solution from Metawave and Crown Castle Expected to Enable Multiple Operators to Share Common Set of Antennas
REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 27, 2002--Metawave® Communications Corp. (Nasdaq:MTWV - news), today announced the signing of a supply agreement with Crown Castle International (NYSE:CCI - news) for Metawave's SmartShare(TM) antenna sharing solution. The agreement follows a letter of intent previously announced by Metawave in Q4 2001.
Under the terms of the agreement, Metawave will develop and supply SmartShare antenna solutions to support Crown Castle's delivery of advanced shared wireless infrastructure to wireless operators. Testing of the SmartShare system is scheduled to begin in summer 2002 and commercial availability is expected by year-end 2002. As part of the agreement and pending successful completion of the testing, Metawave will deliver up to $15 million of SmartShare systems to Crown Castle.
SmartShare, which is designed to support all major air interfaces operating in the cellular, SMR and PCS frequency ranges, will allow up to six wireless operators to share a common set of antenna panels at each cell site. SmartShare provides each wireless service provider with the flexibility to independently optimize antenna patterns to fit their particular needs. Wireless carriers benefit from this arrangement because it will provide them the advantage of a sophisticated antenna system coupled with the economic benefits associated with sharing.
``Crown Castle is taking a leadership role in changing the way the industry looks at shared infrastructure,'' said Bob Hunsberger, Metawave's chairman and chief executive officer. ``This is the first time that an infrastructure sharing product will offer multiple operators the premium position on a tower and simultaneously allow them to independently select antenna patterns that optimize their individual networks.''
ABOUT METAWAVE
Metawave® Communications Corp. is a leading worldwide provider of smart antenna solutions that increase voice and data capacity for wireless carriers. The company's smart antenna offerings provide wireless operators, tower providers and infrastructure manufacturers with cost-effective solutions that maximize capacity and performance, improve quality and increase efficiency of CDMA, GSM and next generation wireless networks. Metawave's smart antenna solutions have been deployed in 14 of the top 20 US wireless markets and five of the nine wireless regions in Mexico. Founded in 1995, the company is headquartered in Redmond, Washington with offices in California, Texas and Shanghai. For more information, visit the company's Web site at metawave.com.
biz.yahoo.com |
