Novatel Wireless' Merlin C201 Certified on Centennial De Puerto Rico's CDMA 1X Network
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - June 11, 2002 - Novatel Wireless, Inc. (Nasdaq:NVTL), a leading provider of wireless data access solutions, announced today that its Merlin C201TM Wireless PC Card Modem has passed certification with the largest wireless carrier headquartered in the Caribbean - Centennial De Puerto Rico. Centennial De Puerto Rico is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Centennial Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: CYCL). The Company has Caribbean operations that cover a population of over 15 million people and serve Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and the U.S. Virgin Islands using digital wireless and terrestrial broadband technologies.
"Centennial De Puerto Rico has been able to attract high usage customers by offering the most advanced technology, "said Sandra Vicenty, director of marketing wireless for Centennial De Puerto Rico. "We have the widest wireless coverage of any carrier in the Caribbean, a region we believe is significantly underserved. This coverage is bolstered by our common technology platform, CDMA, throughout the Caribbean. We expect the Novatel Wireless PC card will be available shortly and believe that demand for wireless data is growing in our markets."
The Merlin C201 Wireless PC Card Modem offers next generation wireless data rates, ensuring fast, secure transfer of wireless data and providing a rich wireless Internet browsing experience using both PCs and PDAs. CDMA2000 1X is designed to significantly increase voice capacity, and to support data transmission speeds up to 144 kilobits per second, ten times the speed commonly available with first generation CDMA networks.
"As one of the first carriers world-wide to roll-out CDMA2000 1X, Centennial has always been a leader in providing advanced wireless services," commented Peter Leparulo, senior vice president of CDMA operations for Novatel Wireless. "Operator certification in the Caribbean is another step in our plan to offer the world access to the most advanced 2.5G and 3G wireless technology."
ABOUT CENTENNIAL DE PUERTO RICO
Centennial De Puerto Rico is one of the largest independent wireless telecommunications service providers in the United States and the Caribbean with approximately 17.5 million Net Pops and 803,200 wireless subscribers. Centennial's U.S. operations have approximately 6.0 million Net Pops in small cities and rural areas. Centennial's Caribbean integrated communications operation owns and operates wireless licenses for 11.4 million Net Pops in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and provides voice, data, video and Internet services on broadband networks in the region. Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe and an affiliate of The Blackstone Group are controlling shareholders of Centennial. For more information regarding Centennial, please visit our website at www.centennialcom.com.
ABOUT NOVATEL WIRELESS, INC.
Novatel Wireless, Inc. is a leading provider of wireless data modems and software for use with handheld computing devices and portable personal computers. The company delivers innovative and comprehensive solutions that enable businesses and consumers to access personal, corporate and public information through email, enterprise networks and the Internet. Novatel Wireless also offers wireless data modems and custom engineering services for hardware integration projects in a wide range of vertical applications. The Novatel Wireless product portfolio includes the Minstrel® Family of Wireless Handheld Modems, MerlinTM Family of Wireless PC Card Modems, Sage® Wireless Serial Modems, Lancer 3WTM Family of Ruggedized Modems and ExpediteTM Family of Wireless Embedded Modems. Headquartered in San Diego, California, Novatel Wireless is listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq: NVTL). For more information, please visit the Novatel Wireless web site: www.novatelwireless.com or call 888-888-9231.
The Novatel Wireless logo, Minstrel, Merlin, Merlin G201, Sage, Lancer 3W and Expedite are trademarks of Novatel Wireless, Inc. Minstrel and Sage are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. All other brands, products and company names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective holders.
This release may contain forward-looking statements, which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. A number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These factors include risks relating to technological changes, continued acceptance of Novatel Wireless' products and dependence on intellectual property rights. These factors, as well as other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, are discussed in more detail in Novatel Wireless' filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory agencies.