GREEN PACKET SEES GREAT POTENTIAL FOR WIMAX IN CALA REGION

15 December, 2008, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil – Green Packet Berhad (GP), a leading developer of next generation mobile broadband and networking solutions, and amongst the first to launch WiMAX commercial services in the world through its subsidiary Packet One Networks in Malaysia, makes progress in becoming a choice broadband solution provider for the Caribbean and Latin American (CALA) market at the WiMAX Forum® Congress Latin America 2008 (WiMAX Forum® CALA 2008) held in Rio de Janeiro.

The two-day event in Rio de Janeiro has generated for the Company more than 20 potential tie-ups and business opportunities with a number of operators and key players from nine countries.
“We are convinced of the potential of this market for our WiMAX products and solutions judging from the enthusiastic response that we received at the WiMAX Forum® CALA 2008, said Kelvin Lee, Senior General Manager of GP.

Lee added, “We will definitely ramp up efforts in entering this vibrant market and introducing our value propositions to this region. WiMAX products and solutions that are not just IOT (inter-operability tested) but field-tested on our large scale LIVE network. Our emphasis is on products and solutions designed from a commercial perspective first, to increase our customers ARPU (average revenue per user) and to increase customer attraction. We are keen to actively engage with Operators on the technology, and share the learning and experience from our commercial roll-out on how to best provide services and maximize commercial success.”

GP has already sent samples for trials and engaged at least ten countries in the CALA region, a signal of strong interest in the Company’s comprehensive range of WiMAX Customer Premise Equipment (CPE). With total engagements of more than a quarter of operators in the world, Green Packet has considerable experience in the WiMAX CPE domain catering to the widest set of customer requirements on various WiMAX frequencies and operating environments.

According to the latest study released by WiMAX Forum®, Latin America alone is projected to contribute to 10 percent of global WiMAX subscribers by 2012 with an absolute number of 13 million users. Of this, 70% is estimated to utilize mobile and portable WiMAX devices to access broadband Internet services. To date, CALA already has more than 95 WiMAX commercial deployments.

Lee enthused that the welcoming response at Rio de Janeiro points to Operators’ excitement and strong interest in developing WiMAX networks.

He said, “The overall sentiment towards WiMAX is that it will solve a great deal of today’s connectivity challenges, especially with the exorbitant costs of laying down fiber cables in both metropolitan areas as well as the countryside. Feedback gathered from Operators at CALA 2008 affirmed that WiMAX has a definite advantage over other technology in terms of deployment, cost-effectiveness and delivering true mobile broadband.”

Lee added, “Moreover, WiMAX enables Operators to boost revenue as the IP-based technology expands data services considerably. This helps Operators realise higher average revenue per user (ARPU). Further accelerating WiMAX growth and adoption will be Intel’s launch of WiMAX-enabled laptops slated to be in early 2009.

GP is a KLSE Main Board listed global technology company, and Intel investee company for the deployment of WIMAX commercial services in Malaysia through its subsidiary and WiMAX operator arm, Packet One. GP recently signed an agreement with Alcatel–Lucent, which will help market its comprehensive field-tested range of WiMAX CPE covering indoor, outdoor and USB modems, as well as its intelligent network connection management solutions known as the Intouch Connection Manager.

The Intouch Connection Manager is a key draw with Operators, as it resolves the constant challenge of network congestion for telecommunication and internet service providers by offloading bandwidth intensive networks such as 3G to the next available network (WiFi or WiMAX) thus creating a balance in bandwidth utilization.