World's First WiMAX Roaming Agreement Established Between WiSOA, MACH and Trustive.

Global roaming partners will push convergence of WiMAX, WiFi and 3G

LONDON -- Members of the WiMAX Spectrum Owners Alliance (WiSOA) have signed the world's first WiMAX roaming agreement, and formed a partnership with MACH Sarl and Trustive BV, the world's leading providers of roaming services.

The key objective of WiSOA, a global organisation composed exclusively of owners of WiMAX spectrum, is to accelerate the acceptance and deployment of interoperable WiMAX networks through a coordinated global effort.

WiMAX is a technology that provides high-speed wireless broadband, based on the IEEE 802.16 family of standards. WiMAX is being adopted by telecommunications companies around the world, such as Sprint Nextel, KDDI, Softbank, Telmex, AT&T and Vodafone, and has been championed by Intel, Motorola, Samsung, Alcatel-Lucent and Nortel, amongst others.

One of the first companies to sign the agreement was Unwired Group Limited in Australia. According to David Spence, chief executive officer of Unwired, "This is a landmark agreement that will enable WiMAX subscribers to remain connected anywhere in the world." All other members of WiSOA were party to the agreement.

Global Roaming Partners

MACH and Trustive will provide turn-key solutions for unified clearance, billing and interconnection, which will allow WiMAX users to roam to other networks as simply as opening their laptop computer, or other WiMAX-enabled devices.

These services will also allow roaming interconnection with an aggregated global WiFi network, and hundreds of GSM and 3G networks, creating a global wireless IP clearing and roaming platform.

According to Terence Ledger, chief commercial officer of MACH, "This is an exciting development in the realisation of a simple to use, seamless customer experience for roaming across many technologies, and MACH is proud to be at the forefront in enabling this to happen."

Bram Jan Streefland, co-founder and managing director of Trustive, said, "Trustive is very pleased to be involved in helping to deliver a unified WiMAX experience. End users want to have broadband access wherever they are in the world, whether it is via WiFi or WiMAX. As a global IP clearinghouse, our roaming partners can be more effectively managed, which will ultimately benefit the end user."

WiSOA intends that this initiative should be an "open" process, and welcomes the participation of other network operators and industry stakeholders to ensure adherence to technical and commercial standards.

Convergence of WiMAX, WiFi and 3G

As WiMAX networks are being rapidly deployed around the world, they will play a key role in the convergence of wireless technologies. "Our goal in this initiative is to ensure that any wireless subscriber could gain broadband access, regardless of where they are," said Steve Cosser, chairman of WiSOA.

New chipsets, modems, PDAs and mobile handsets are being developed by companies such as Intel, Motorola, Samsung and Nokia that will allow for dual and treble connectivity amongst WiMAX, WiFi and 3G services. The agreement between WiSOA, MACH and Trustive seeks to take advantage of these converging technologies and provide a platform where users of these technologies can benefit from global roaming, irrespective of the technology.

This is another step in the WiMAX revolution.

NOTES TO EDITORS

About WiSOA

WiSOA (WiMAX Spectrum Owners Alliance) is the first global organisation composed exclusively of owners of WiMAX spectrum. The key objective of WiSOA is to accelerate the acceptance and deployment of interoperable WiMAX networks through a coordinated global effort. WiSOA is focused on the regulation, commercialisation, and deployment of WiMAX in the 2300 ~ 2400 Mhz, 2500 ~ 2690 Mhz and the 3400 ~ 3600 Mhz frequency bands. WiSOA is dedicated to educating and informing its members, industry representatives and government regulators of the importance of WiMAX spectrum, its use, and the potential for WiMAX to revolutionise broadband and data access. WiSOA acknowledges that the value of the spectrum is essential to ensuring the unrestricted flow of capital to WiMAX operators. Ensuring this can be achieved is an essential objective for WiSOA. For further information, please visit www.wisoa.com and WiSOA's www.wimaxday.net.

WiSOA members include: Austar, Max Telecom, Nextwave Wireless, Unwired, UK Broadband, Yozan, Irish Broadband, Telecom New Zealand, Woosh Wireless, Nomad, Liberty Global, WiMAX Telecom and Cosmoline.

About Trustive

Trustive is Europe's leading wireless hotspot access provider and one of the fastest growing in the world. Through roaming agreements, Trustive is meeting the end-user demand for access to a global network of hotspots by offering a unified service through an easy-to-use user interface, providing the end-user with one single login and invoice. Trustive is targeting both the retail and wholesale markets. Among Trustive wholesale customers are SFR and Vodafone Italy. The Trustive network currently offers access to over 20,000 hotspots across 60 networks. Created in 2003, Trustive is a privately-held company with headquarters in Amsterdam and R&D offices in Sophia Antipolis, France. http://corporate.trustive.com

Trustive roaming partners include: Vodafone, SFR, Telefonica, Maxis, Proximus, Hub Telecom, Lattelcom, Chunghwa Telecom, KPN, as well as WiFi aggregators Wayport and The Cloud.

About MACH

MACH is the leading global clearing and settlement partner for mobile based transactions. We help telecommunications companies and enterprises across the world to secure and develop existing and new revenue streams. We specialise in outsourced solutions within roaming clearing and billing, Interconnect and WLAN. In addition, we deliver mobile content services through the independently operating brand End2End as well as EDI under the Progrator brand. Our global client base comprises the leading international telecommunication companies, including established national operators on five continents and new licensees worldwide. With more than 500 employees and offices in 11 countries throughout the world, we combine global expertise and operations with local knowledge in each of our markets. For further information please visit www.mach.com

MACH roaming customers include: O2, Vodafone, Swisscom Tele2, Softbank, Telenor, maxis, Beeline, MTC, Telstra, Mobilkom, Telefonica, NTT DoCoMo, T-Mobile and Korea Telecom.