Falls Church, VA — September 1, 2004: YDI Wireless, Inc. (NASDAQ:YDIW), a leading developer and supplier of broadband wireless solutions, today introduced its Marquee 4.9 radio system. This product enables public safety entities to benefit from the wireless broadband capabilities available using the recently allocated 4.9 GHz public safety band.
In 2003, the Federal Communications Commission allocated 50 megahertz of spectrum in the 4.9 GHz band solely for use by public safety governmental and non-governmental entities. This allocation gives every public safety entity in the United States access to dedicated spectrum for interoperable broadband communications. The FCC permits this spectrum to be used for a wide variety of purposes from the creation of ad-hoc networks around a certain location, person, or vehicle to the establishment of a redundant communications system to the establishment of temporary command centers at an incident scene.
This public safety band is a licensed band so public safety entities need to receive a license from the FCC to use the band. The FCC has stated it will grant geographic licenses authorizing the public safety entity to use the spectrum within its legal jurisdiction and has been accepting license applications.
YDI's new Marquee 4.9 system has been certified as meeting the FCC Part 90 criteria for operating in this new 4.9 GHz band. This product offers a data rate as high as 20 megabits per second (Mbps) and is available with a variety of different antennas allowing the product to be tailored for specific applications. These applications can range from creating a "hot spot" or "hot zone" of ubiquitous coverage to deploying metropolitan-wide coverage to establishing fixed wireless data links of 20 miles and more. Utilizing YDI's time-proven technology, the Marquee 4.9 product offers a mature solution in a brand new frequency band.
Using its proprietary technology, YDI is developing other products for operation in the 4.9 GHz band. These products are expected to offer different performance characteristics from YDI's initial 4.9 GHz product to give public safety organizations a broader product selection to benefit from the broad possibilities permitted using the 4.9 GHz public safety band.
Robert Fitzgerald, YDI's Chief Executive Officer, stated, "YDI is very focused on public safety, homeland defense, and first responder applications for our technology and products. Based on our review of public documents, we believe that we have the first product in the 4.9 GHz public safety band that has received FCC certification. We are in discussions with numerous municipalities and major integrators for deployment of Marquee 4.9 systems. We find that the municipalities are quite excited that we can offer them a solution that is certified and available for use today! With its broadband capabilities, the Marquee 4.9 product is a natural complement to the license-free self-healing mesh technology incorporated in our Ricochet product line. While both our Marquee 4.9 product and our Ricochet products offer powerful capabilities, we believe that the Marquee 4.9 product and Ricochet products together provide an unmatched breadth of capabilities for data rates and coverage areas for public safety and first responder applications."
YDI Wireless, Inc. is a world leader in providing extended range, license-free wireless data equipment and is a leading designer of turnkey long distance wireless systems ranging from 9600 bps to 1.44 Gbps for applications such as wireless Internet, wireless video, wireless LANs, wireless WANs, wireless MANs, and wireless virtual private networks. Additional information about YDI Wireless as well as its complete product line can be found at the company's website located at http://www.ydi.com or by contacting the company by telephone at 413-665-8551 or by email at IR@ydi.com.
Statements in this press release that are not statements of historical facts, including statements regarding YDI's business outlook or expected products, capabilities, performance, opportunities, or developments, are forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. YDI's actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could contribute to such differences including those relating to the downturn and ongoing uncertainty in the telecommunications industry and larger economy; the intense competition in YDI's industries and resulting impacts on its pricing, gross margins, and general financial performance; the possibility of changes in applicable FCC regulations and certification procedures and requirements; difficulties in predicting YDI's future financial performance; and risks arising from and relating to YDI's recent acquisitions of Ricochet Networks, Inc., Terabeam Corporation, and KarlNet, Inc. and contemplated acquisition of Phazar Corp. Further information on these and other factors that could affect YDI's actual results is and will be included in filings made by YDI from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission and in its other public statements.
David L. Renauld
Vice President, Corporate Affairs
(413) 665-8551