Wireless News
October 28, 2008 Tuesday

Comstar Deploys Airspan equipment in Armenian WiMAX Network

Airspan Networks,a provider of WiMAX-based broadband wireless access
networks, announced that an official ceremony was held in Yerevan, the
capital of Armenia, to launch Comstar’s nation-wide, WiMAX
communications network powered by Airspan equipment.

At the ceremony, Comstar’s CEO presented Airspan’s MiMAX Q-Series USB
devices to Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev and President of
Armenia, Serge Sarkisyan.

Comstar, an integrated telecommunications provider in Russia and CIS,
has deployed Airspan’s WiMAX equipment to create a combined fixed and
mobile network. The network, which currently comprises 24 base
stations, covers Yerevan and 18 additional cities, offering Armenian
residents and businesses high-speed Internet, VoIP, video conferencing
and mobile services.

During the ceremony, the Presidents of both States participated in a
real-time two-way video conference with a medical diagnostics center
and were briefed on a pilot deployment for mobile WiMAX in the city of
Armavir. Both the video link and the mobile deployment are enabled via
Mobile WiMAX links supported by Airspan’s EasyST indoor subscriber
stations.

Sergey Pridantsev, President and Chief Executive Officer of Comstar
UTS, said, "This national WiMAX network is a unique project for
Armenia, and one of the first projects of its kind worldwide. Airspan
was able to supply us with a superior solution to meet our
requirements, enabling us to deliver modern communications services
that help improve quality of life as well as bring telephony services
and broadband internet access to some homes for the first time ever."

"We are very proud to partner with Comstar in such a revolutionary
project," stated Anders Rendahl, Airspan’s Senior Vice President &
General Manager EMEA. "The attendance of the Presidents of Russia and
Armenia to this ceremony only highlights the importance of the
life-changing effects a network such as this can have on a country
like Armenia. We look forward to further expansion of the Comstar
network in 2009 and to continuing to help revolutionize fixed and
mobile communications in this important and growing economy."