Notas de Imprensa

Geab Selects Alvarion’s Breezeaccess™ Solutions For Wireless DSL Deployment In Sweden

Tel – Aviv Israel, August 13, 2003 – Alvarion Ltd. (NASDAQ: ALVR) today announced that GEAB (Gotlands Energi AB), a Swedish utility company, has chosen Alvarion’s BreezeACCESS™ OFDM and BreezeACCESS™ XL solutions as the basis for an extensive 3.5 GHz Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) network to be deployed on Sweden’s Gotland Island. Alvarion is the first Wireless DSL vendor chosen under the auspices of the Swedish Government’s new National Broadband initiative, by which high-quality broadband Internet Access services will be extended to all of Sweden’s regions, including unserved and rural areas. As an important part of the initiative, the authorities granted licenses to groups across Sweden in April, to operate BWA networks on the 3.5GHz bands, paving the way for cities and other entities to independently establish local Wireless DSL services. UpGrade Communication, one of Alvarion’s largest distributors, was selected as the system integrator for this project.

“Although Gotland is sparsely populated, its inhabitants and visitors are sophisticated telecommunications consumers,” said Lars Samuelsson, Managing Director of GEAB. “Two years ago, we recognized growing demand for broadband access on the Island, and addressed it cost-effectively by installing BreezeACCESS™ base stations using our electrical towers as backbone for the service. Now that the licensed 3.5GHz frequencies have become available, we are pleased to expand the network. After a thorough evaluation, we are confident that BreezeACCESS™ remains the most scalable and robust solution available. The system’s unique NLOS (Non Line-of-Sight) capabilities are especially critical for helping us overcome the challenges of the Island’s rugged terrain. We look forward to a smooth, rapid installation, and to ongoing cooperation with both UpGrade and Alvarion.”

The Gotland Municipality is the first community in Sweden to initiate its Wireless DSL network that operates in the 3.5Ghz license band. As its operator, it chose GEAB, a local utility company (part of the Vattenfall Group), which for two years has been providing BreezeACCESS™-based broadband services in Gotland on the unlicensed 2.4GHz frequency bands. GEAB conducted a competitive vendor selection process, and selected an extensive 3.5GHz network based on Alvarion’s BreezeACCESS™ OFDM and BreezeACCESS™ XL components.

Zvi Slonimsky, CEO of Alvarion, added, “We are excited about the implications of this milestone project for Alvarion. Sweden’s ambitious broadband initiative is important for the entire BWA industry. Sweden has always been a telecommunications trendsetter, and its embrace of Wireless DSL for rural regions is likely to encourage other countries to follow. We are committed to the success of the GEAB project, which can be an excellent model for other communities in Western Europe. This initial win confirms our positioning as a leading provider of BWA technologies, and well positions us to win additional tenders that will be mounted by many of its 289 communities in 21 regions. We congratulate UpGrade, our long term and successful distributor in Sweden for its contribution to this win.”

About GEAB

GEAB (Gotlands Energi AB) is a joint venture of Vattenfall, Sweden’s largest energy company, and the Municipality of Gotland. It supplies energy and broadband telephony services to the inhabitants of the Island of Gotland, Sweden.

Vattenfall is Sweden’s largest energy company. Vattenfall generates power and supplies energy to several million customers in Scandinavia and northern Europe, including major industrial plants and energy companies. The Vattenfall Group's net sales in 2001, excluding operations in Germany, were more than EUR 4.2 billion. For more information, see www.gotlandsenergi.se and www.vattenfall.com

About UpGrade

UpGrade is a leading distributor of wireless communication solutions in Scandinavia. A value-added distributor of broadband infrastructure products, UpGrade provides all services associated with wireless infrastructure deployments, including site surveys, project management, technical support, training and maintenance, for system integrators, operators and ISPs in the Nordic market. Founded in 1987, UpGrade’s headquarters are located in Lund, Sweden, and regional offices are located in Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Since 1999 UpGrade has been a member of the Swedish DORO Group (www.doro.com), which is listed on the Swedish stock exchange.

About Alvarion

Alvarion is dedicated to delivering seamless wireless broadband networking infrastructure to carriers, ISPs and private network operators, in order to leverage their broadband opportunities into sustainable profits. Alvarion offers premier wireless broadband solutions for access in the last mile, backhauling connection to the backbone and private network connectivity. Featuring the industry's most extensive range of products and international support, Alvarion is a pioneering leader of the converged wireless broadband network. With over 1.5 million units deployed in 120 countries worldwide, Alvarion provides secure rich-media networks for business or residential Internet access, corporate VPNs, cellular base station feeding, community interconnection, public safety connectivity and extended Hotspots.

Having recently acquired InnoWave's wideband access portfolio and expertise, Alvarion provides a complete wireless solution that supports a wide range of frequency bands, customer profiles and service types.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on the current expectations or beliefs of Alvarion’s management and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements: inability to further identify, develop and achieve success for new products, services and technologies; increased competition and its effect on pricing, spending, third-party relationships and revenues; as well as the inability to establish and maintain relationships with commerce, advertising, marketing, and technology providers and other risks detailed from time to time in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Information set forth in this press release pertaining to third parties has not been independently verified by Alvarion and is based solely on publicly available information or on information provided to Alvarion by such third parties for inclusion in this press release. The web-sites appearing in this press release are not and will not be included or incorporated by reference in any filing made by Alvarion with the Securities and Exchange Commission which this press release will be a part of.

You may register to receive Alvarion’s future press releases or to download a complete Digital Investor Kit™ including press releases, regulatory filings and corporate materials by contacting Carmen Deville, Investor Relations: carmen.deville@alvarion.com or 760-517-3188. 

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