NETGEAR® and Ubiquisys Team to Develop Femtocell Home Gateway
All-in-One Residential Gateway to Boast Wi-Fi, DSL and Femtocell Technology
SANTA CLARA, Calif. and SWINDON, England — June 26, 2007 — NETGEAR®, Inc. (Nasdaq: NTGR), a worldwide provider of technologically advanced, branded networking products, and Ubiquisys Ltd., a developer of intelligent 3G femtocell access points for the residential market, today announced their collaboration to deliver a comprehensive residential gateway with integrated DSL modem, Wi-Fi, VoIP and 3G femtocell technology. This gateway device will offer mobile operators worldwide a single-box, converged solution at a competitive price. It is anticipated that the NETGEAR gateway integrating Ubiquisys’ femtocell technology will be available for operator testing by Q4 2007, with commercial availability slated for early 2008. Representatives from the two companies will be featured speakers at the International Conference on Home Access Points and Femtocells, taking place in London from July 3-5.
The Ubiquisys ZoneGate femtocell is a plug-and-play 3G access point that uses a mobile subscriber’s DSL connection to transport voice and data calls to the core network using a range of standards-based interfaces. NETGEAR and Ubiquisys are working to build this functionality into NETGEAR’s wireless gateways in order to provide mobile operators with the means to interact with home networks via 3G broadband networks.
“Consumer demand is rising for high-quality, seamless and easy-to-use solutions that enable new applications such as fixed mobile convergence. Integrating Ubiquisys’ femtocell technology into NETGEAR products represents a natural progression in home networking,” said David James, director of service provider products at NETGEAR. “Not only will this solution enable mobile operators to provide enhanced cellular coverage in the home, but it will also make it possible for consumers to access and control a range of home networking services via standard 3G phone handsets.”
“Our collaboration with NETGEAR brings together two of the strongest players from their respective sectors to turn the FMC vision into a reality,” said Will Franks, co-founder and CTO of Ubiquisys. “This teaming is about enabling forward-thinking mobile operators to seize market share and generate new revenue streams through new and innovative residential service models.”
A recent study from ABI Research forecasts that by 2012 there will be 152 million users of femtocell products on 36 million access points worldwide. Stuart Carlaw, ABI Research principal analyst, states, “Femtocells offer mobile service providers the opportunity to address fixed mobile convergence markets with a highly attractive and efficient solution. The alliance between NETGEAR and Ubiquisys offers both companies the opportunity to combine their core competencies in order to meet challenging operator requirements for Quad and Triple play services. In fact, in our June 2007 survey, we rated Ubiquisys number one femtocell vendor of the top ten players in the sector, based on product innovation and implementation.”
NETGEAR and Ubiquisys are sponsors of the July 3-5 International Conference on Home Access Points and Femtocells in London. Jay C. Kim, NETGEAR’s product line manager for VoIP and 3G/4G Wireless technologies, is presenting a case study on femtocell integrated access devices as well as participating in the panel discussion “Home Access Points –Technology Push or Consumer Pull?” The co-founder and CTO of Ubiquisys, Will Franks, is presenting “Femtocell Solutions – Understanding the Femtocell Eco-system,” while the vice president of sales, Richard Stavely, is speaking on a panel reviewing femtocell price points. The full conference program can be viewed at http://www.avrenevents.com/femto2007/programme.htm.
About Ubiquisys Ltd.
Ubiquisys is a privately owned communications company formed in 2004 to bring the ground breaking ZoneGate femtocell technology to market. The ZoneGate 3G access point is a small plug-and-play device that simply and seamlessly connects to a user's broadband gateway or becomes an integrated module as part of a comprehensive residential gateway device. The system is network connectivity agnostic, supporting multiple interfaces to the operator’s core network. The ZoneGate access point is remotely managed and updated using standard TR-069 management systems. ZoneGate enables mobile operators to extend 3G coverage in an extremely targeted way, reduce deployment costs, generate new revenue streams and speed up fixed-mobile substitution. Ubiquisys was recently named a Red Herring Europe 100 Winner. For more information, visit www.ubiquisys.com.
About NETGEAR®, Inc.
NETGEAR® (Nasdaq: NTGR) designs technologically advanced, branded networking products that address the specific needs of small and medium business and home users. The Company's product offerings enable users to share Internet access, peripherals, files, digital multimedia content and applications among multiple personal computers and other Internet-enabled devices. NETGEAR is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.netgear.com or call (408) 907-8000.
© 2007 NETGEAR, Inc. NETGEAR, and the NETGEAR logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of NETGEAR, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. Other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. Information is subject to change without notice. All rights reserved.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 for NETGEAR, Inc.:
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Specifically, statements concerning the development of future NETGEAR products integrating Ubiquisys femtocell technology and the expected performance characteristics, specifications, market acceptance, market growth, specific uses, user feedback and market position of NETGEAR’s products and technology are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Safe Harbor. These statements are based on management’s current expectations and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, the following: the development of NETGEAR products that integrate the Ubiquisys femtocell technology may be unsuccessful or may be delayed; NETGEAR or Ubiquisys may choose not to proceed with the planned product development if there is technological difficulties or if there is no market demand for such products, the actual price, performance and ease of use of NETGEAR’s products may not meet the price, performance and ease of use requirements of customers, product performance may be adversely affected by real world operating conditions, new viruses or Internet threats may develop that challenge the effectiveness of security features in NETGEAR’s products, the ability of NETGEAR to market and sell its products and technology, the impact and pricing of competing products and the introduction of alternative technological solutions. Further information on potential risk factors that could affect NETGEAR and its business are detailed in the Company’s periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, those risks and uncertainties listed in the section entitled "Part I - Item 1A. Risk Factors," pages 20 through 29, in the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended April 1, 2007, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 11, 2007. NETGEAR undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
Contacts:
For NETGEAR
Lisa Hawes
Sterling Communications
(408) 884-5155
lhawes@sterlingpr.com
For Ubiquisys
Ed Howson
+44 (0)7740173051
ed.howson@temono.com