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Manchester Metronet Accelerates Rollout of Public Safety CCTV Applications with BridgeWave’s High-Capacity Gigabit Wireless Backhaul Links

Santa Clara, CA – March 31, 2008 – BridgeWave Communications, the leading supplier of gigabit wireless solutions, today announced that Manchester Metronet, a UK-based broadband wireless network service provider, has deployed two BridgeWave GE80 gigabit wireless links as well as four FE80UX gigabit-upgradeable wireless links to extend the reach of its metropolitan area network (MAN). The newly deployed links, while expediting delivery of Closed Circuit TV (CCTV) surveillance capabilities for the Manchester City Council and Manchester Greater Police, has helped Manchester Metronet achieve a return-on-investment (ROI) in less than six months.

Manchester Metronet’s high-speed wireless Internet services undercut the costs of traditional service provider offerings by as much as 80 percent, without any compromise in performance or quality of service. The network operator also supports a host of compelling applications, including inter-office connectivity for converged IP voice, data and streaming video; business broadband backup circuits and disaster recovery; as well as real-time CCTV monitoring.

For Manchester City Council, an increase in real-time video surveillance created network congestion at one of its control centers when a 100Mbps backhaul link became oversaturated with video traffic. Manchester Metronet opted for gigabit wireless when fiber-optic leased line services weren’t readily available. The network operator installed its first BridgeWave’s GE80 product, which operates in the licensed 80 GHz frequency spectrum, to connect its fiber backbone ring to the council’s control center, located less than two miles away.

BridgeWave’s gigabit wireless link provides ample bandwidth to support more than 200 CCTV cameras on the same link while ultra low-latency transmission enables real-time pan, tilt and zoom of remote cameras without time delays or reduction in image quality. Manchester Metronet soon found other opportunities to deploy a second GE80 link and four gigabit-upgradeable FE80U links to support a range of bandwidth-intensive applications and remote CCTV monitoring for the city council and the Greater Manchester Police.

BridgeWave’s gigabit wireless links provide maximum capacity for the highest traffic network segments, while the gigabit-upgradeable products offer a “future proof” backbone technology for scaling Manchester Metronet’s network as traffic grows.

“BridgeWave’s gigabit wireless products provide major cost savings and time-to-market advantages, giving us a distinct competitive edge over legacy service providers with voice, data and video offerings priced well below the incumbent’s fees,” says Elliott Mueller, CEO of Manchester Metronet. “Superior flexibility is another plus, including the ability to let customers take links to new locations and easily connect to a different point of presence on the network.”

Manchester Metronet recently expanded into the Liverpool area to support new CCTV remote monitoring projects while also working with private corporations to accommodate high-speed data access, IPTV and VoIP applications. The network operator projects a complete ROI on its existing BridgeWave links in less than six months and expects to add more gigabit wireless radios to keep pace with rapid growth in Manchester as well as support market momentum in Liverpool.

“We are seeing a strong demand for 80 GHz gigabit wireless links from network operators and private enterprise users,” says Tim Close, managing director of 802Global, BridgeWave’s UK-based distributor. “Manchester Metronet’s accelerated multi-gigabit network rollout demonstrates the unique value proposition that these products provide, offering performance levels well beyond what is possible using traditional lower-frequency alternatives.”

According to Gregg Levin, chief marketing officer for BridgeWave Communications, “The UK was an early European adopter of the new 80 GHz spectrum band, allowing operators such as Manchester Metronet to overcome the limitations of fiber availability and cost. Based on the ongoing work of European standards bodies and country spectrum regulators, we expect this band to soon become available for use throughout Europe, providing the benefits of gigabit wireless technology for operators region-wide.”

About BridgeWave Communications
Founded in 1999, BridgeWave Communications is the leading supplier of outdoor Gigabit wireless connectivity solutions. The company’s exclusive AdaptRate™ and AdaptPath™ technologies combined with its advanced Forward Error Correction capability deliver the highest availability at the longest distances for full-rate gigabit links. BridgeWave’s point-to-point, wireless solutions are widely deployed in mainstream enterprise and service provider network applications and are poised to play a key role in the migration to 4G mobile network backhaul. With the largest installed base of GigE radios worldwide, BridgeWave delivers the highest levels of product quality and reliability.