Pace Micro Technology plc (LSE:PIC), the leading independent
developer of digital TV technologies for the global payTV industry, is
demonstrating how 802.16 delivery to the home can be combined with
802.11 distribution in the home, to provide operators with a truly
wireless content delivery solution and expand their service footprint.
This demonstration highlights the opportunities available to
operators who embrace the WiMAX standard. Using fixed wires access
(FWA) systems, cable operators can expand their footprint to new
subscribers without the need to lay new cables. Satellite operators
can provide a full triple-play package by using WiMAX to deliver fast
broadband to subscribers who may otherwise be too far away from an
exchange to benefit fully from high bandwidth DSL. Telcos can use
WiMAX to provide a full digital service - incorporating video, data
and voice - to potential customers, giving them a different business
model and opportunity to compete with the more traditional operators.
The demonstration consists of a server unit in the home, which
connects wirelessly to an external WiMAX base station using Pace's
'Connections Suite software' - which has been entirely developed at
Pace. This server unit then delivers broadband content - either video
or data or both - to clients around the home, including set-top boxes,
mobile phones and PCs, using WiFi.
Pace is teaming up with Metalink (NASDAQ: MTLK), a provider of
high-performance wireless and wireline broadband communication silicon
solutions, and Runcom Technologies, the pioneer in OFDMA(R) enabling
technologies for Mobile WiMAX to enable this demonstration.
Darren Fawcett, Chief Technologist - Wireless Systems at Pace
commented: "WiMAX is still an emerging technology, but it promises to
revolutionise the broadband market and open up a whole range of
opportunities for payTV operators and telcos.
"It is the flexibility inherent in the WiMAX system, due to its
agility in frequency of operation, adaptive modulation, and advanced
link coding, which combine to reduce operator expenditure costs,
improved throughput and range - that puts it forward as a potentially
very powerful system for the future."
Barry Volinskey, Vice President Marketing at Metalink commented:
"These innovative solutions are based on Metalink's WLANPlus(TM), a
high-throughput IEEE 802.11n-compliant wireless LAN technology.
WLANPlus offers the industry 'Low Packet Error Rate', which is
essential for robust video delivery, providing a reliable foundation
for the provision of wireless triple-play and entertainment networks
with multiple simultaneous HD video streams and extended coverage."
"The co-operation with Pace is a very important step in the
evolution of Runcom's OFDMA powered products that include a wide
variety of commercial products available worldwide," said Israel
Koffman, Vice President of Marketing at Runcom Technologies.
According to IMS research1, shipments of WiMAX CPE are expected to
increase from an estimated 250,400 shipments in 2006 to 41.9 million
in 2012, and the number of base station sectors shipped will increase
from around 7,000 in 2006 with revenues of $0.1 billion to around
408,000 in 2012 with revenues of around $2.2 billion.
Pace first demonstrated its WiMAX expertise at ANGA Cable in early
2006.
Ends
About Pace Micro Technology
Pace Micro Technology plc (pic.l) is a leading technology
developer for the global payTV industry. Pace's main focus is on
creating intelligent and innovative products and services that benefit
our customers and fuel the development of digital TV.
Pace has one of the world's most experienced specialist
engineering teams and is the partner of choice for leading payTV
operators across the globe.
Pace's international headquarters are in Saltaire, West Yorkshire,
UK, with further offices in the USA, France, India and Hong Kong. For
more information on Pace, please visit www.pacemicro.com.
About Metalink Ltd
Metalink Ltd. (NASDAQ: MTLK) is a leading provider of high
performance wireless and wireline broadband communication silicon
solutions. Metalink's WLAN and DSL technologies are designed to enable
true broadband connectivity in every home, and its products
revolutionize the broadband experience by facilitating the convergence
of telecommunication, networking and entertainment.
Metalink's WLANPlus(TM) is a high-throughput,
802.11n-draft-compliant wireless LAN technology optimized for the
networked home entertainment environment. Featuring advanced MIMO
technology and full support of QoS, and operating in both 2.4GHz and
5GHz bands, WLANPlus enables multi-room networking of multiple
high-definition video streams. In addition, Metalink offers a broad
range of symmetric DSL and VDSL products used by operators as a
cost-effective network upgrade to support triple-play services.
Headquartered in Yakum, Israel, the company has design centers in
USA (Atlanta, GA) and Taiwan, and sales offices in USA (Atlanta, GA),
South Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan. Further information is available
at http://www.MTLK.com
About Runcom Technologies Ltd
Runcom is a technology company pioneering OFDMA based silicon
solutions for User Terminals and Base Stations that comply with the
IEEE802.16e-2005 standard for WiBro and Mobile WiMax applications;
Runcom Products include the PHY and MAC communication layers. Runcom
RNA200 ASIC was the first Mobile WiMax compliant ASIC in the Market.
For more information, visit Runcom on the Internet:
http://www.runcom.com or contact Israel Koffman at
israelk@runcom.co.il
1 The Worldwide market for WiMAX and competing products, IMS
Research July 2007
