Beceem Accelerates WiMax

NEW DELHI, India, Jan. 10, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Beceem Communications (www.beceem.com), a leading provider of chipsets for Mobile WiMAX technology with significant R&D operations in India, today announced its commitment to accelerate WiMAX deployment in India. Beceem is the first to demonstrate and make available a complete, highly integrated IEEE 802.16e Mobile WiMAX chipset solution suitable for mobile, portable and fixed indoor/outdoor applications.

Beceem believes that there are at least three reasons why WiMAX is a great fit for India:

• The demand for broadband connectivity from urban homes and small/medium businesses is growing rapidly and this cannot be met effectively by the existing wireline technologies. Wireless will be the dominant delivery mode for broadband services just as wireless now dominates voice services. Thanks to its true broadband performance, early availability and cost advantages, WiMAX is best-positioned to serve this huge Indian market.

• Several Indian service providers have already acquired suitable spectrum licenses to deploy wireless broadband services and are planning early rollouts in 2006. WiMAX is the first truly broadband technology available to meet Indian market needs.

• The presence of leading WiMAX technology vendors like Beceem Communications and other system integrators in India, will for the first time, usher significant local high technology value additions, and working with service providers also help fine tune WiMAX deployment in the country.

"India is quickly emerging as a major market for WiMAX," said Vinod Khosla, Co-founder of SUN Microsystems and one of the world's most renown high-tech VCs, as well as is one of Beceem's major investors. "With a population of more than one billion and a growing economy, India is a huge market for broadband and needs rapid deployment of such services, which in turn will further accelerate GDP growth."

Beceem Communications Inc.