Powerwave wins UMTS-TDD contract from ATENIT

February 16, 2005

Powerwave Technologies, a supplier of end-to-end wireless infrastructure solutions, announced the Powerwave Microwave group has been awarded a contract from ATENIT Communication AB in Sweden.

Under the contract, Powerwave is named as the exclusive supplier of Ethernet microwave communication solutions to ATENIT, which will be used in Scandinavia's first commercial UMTS-TDD communications network, as well as additional networks in Europe.

Specifically, the agreement is expected to facilitate microwave delivery in the Nordic, Baltic and Eastern European areas, where ATENIT plans to build licensed TDD networks.

"I felt most comfortable with choosing the well proven and recommended Powerwave Microwave solution that offers a unique technical and commercial package offering the lowest risk and smoothest roll-out of our networks. My IP engineers felt best at home with the Powerwave solutions," said Hakan Ortenholm, managing director for ATENIT Communication AB.

Powerwave was selected over other major microwave suppliers, in part due to its strong seamless IP/Ethernet microwave solution.

"This deal demonstrates Powerwave's strong capabilities in software-based microwave solutions starting from an IP/Ethernet approach, instead of more traditional ITU/Telecom solutions," stated Leo F.J. de Meere, vice president of sales at Powerwave's Microwave Group.

UMTS TDD Mobile Broadband technology, also known as TD-CDMA, is a packet data implementation of the international 3GPP UMTS standard. Unlike WCDMA which uses FDD (Frequency Division), UMTS TDD uses Time-Division-Duplexing (TDD) and is designed to work in a single unpaired frequency band. The technology enables high speed, low latency to provide broadband and other packet services to users at home, at work, or on the road.

One of the significant benefits of using TDD is that TDD supports variable asymmetry, meaning an operator can dictate how much capacity is allocated to downlink versus uplink. As the traffic patterns for data typically favor the downlink, this results in better use of spectrum assets and higher efficiency for network operators.