PR releases

Intel and Science Museum showcase WiMAX in action in UK

London, March 23 2005, Intel is bringing the emerging WiMAX technology to life as it teams with The Science Museum in one of its first UK trials, offering major productivity gains and cost savings based on traditional wired technologies.

Intel will be showcasing real world demonstrations of WiMAX in three different usage models. Two are based on Alvarion’s BreezeMAX - one in a business environment with a demo from The Science Museum and one in the digital home which is being demonstrated at Dolby Laboratories European HQ. A rural location demonstration will also take place with an example from Brighton based Wi-Fi service provider MetraNet.

WiMAX, also known as IEEE 802.16, is an emerging wireless standard that will enable cost effective, high-speed wireless connections to homes and businesses in both urban and rural environments across long distances.

Intel has been working on the UK trials for the past two months with the Science Museum at its Wroughton site where many of its large object collections are housed in 11 old aeroplane hangers across a 545 acre site. WiMAX is allowing the curators at the various sites to be able to communicate electronically with each other for the first time ever and also keep updated records of the various artefacts within the remote buildings.

Sally Pettipher, head of development for the Science Museum in Wroughton said: “We looked into getting the buildings networked with standard wired connections. However, the significant disruption and the estimated expenditure of over £1 million due to the size of the site prevented us from laying a fibre network, while the ease of installation made WiMAX a much more viable proposition at a fraction of the cost. Not only has WiMAX enabled us to put in place a modern IT infrastructure and saved on cabling costs, but we are seeing immediate productivity benefits with the curators now being able to fully automate their day to day work. There is a very strong business case for WiMAX technology and we are really excited about being involved in this trial with Intel.”

As a result of the new technology the Science Museum is also looking to move forward on new plans which will allow the collections at the site to be more widely accessible to the public and provide greater benefit to the museum staff.

Gordon Graylish, Intel Communication Organisation EMEA said: “We at Intel are working towards a future of anywhere/anytime connectivity. These UK trials show just how easy it is to build a WiMAX network and also demonstrate how cost effective it is compared to a fibre network. I believe that these benefits will be a major boost to the widespread adoption of WiMAX in the next few years.”

Rudy Leser, Vice President of Marketing of Alvarion, said, “Since mid-2003, Alvarion has been working in a strategic partnership with Intel to bring WiMAX technology out of the laboratory to mass deployment. Today’s demonstrations, along with Alvarion’s other 50 trials and commercial deployments of BreezeMAX, its WiMAX-ready platform, prove all claims of the technology’s contribution to the telecommunications industry and as witnessed in Swindon today, to people’s daily lives.”

About WiMAX

WiMAX (IEEE 802.16) is a set of emerging wireless standards that promises to provide high-speed broadband connectivity in both fixed and mobile wireless networks. The technology will deliver last mile broadband connectivity in a larger geographic area than Wi-Fi, enabling carrier-grade services to business customers and residential users with a typical reach of 3-5 km.

About Intel

Intel, the world’s largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communications products. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom

Intel is a mark or registered trademark of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.

About Alvarion (NASDAQ: ALVR)

With more than 2 million units deployed in 130 countries, Alvarion is the worldwide leader in wireless broadband, providing systems to carriers, ISPs and private network operators, and also in extending coverage of GSM and CDMA mobile networks to developing countries and other hard to serve areas. For more information, please visit www.alvarion.com