EION and Telenorma deliver wireless solution to EMCALI in Colombia

Ottawa, Canada; June 13, 2005 - EMCALI has chosen EION, a leading outdoor wireless infrastructure provider, and its partner Telenorma in Colombia, to provide wireless solutions for extension of their telecommunications infrastructure network in the city of Santiago de Cali, Colombia.

EMCALI is the main telephone and Internet Service Provider for the city of Cali, third largest city in Colombia, with a population of 2 million people.  They provide services to 500,000 subscribers.  EMCALI provides data, voice and video services through its communications infrastructure, a combination of wired and wireless technologies.

EMCALI's existing network infrastructure provides telephony services for the city's residents, including a small 900Mhz voice only wireless phone lines for rural and urban clients.  The network spans through the North, South and East of the city, connecting local services to long distance operators' networks.

As the city of Santiago de Cali began to grow and expand, so did the need for extended service areas.  EMCALI began to explore new technologies that would allow them to respond quickly to customer demands for Internet and data services.   Wireless technology was chosen as the best alternative to deploy, as it would provide the coverage needed without the costly price of building on the terrestrial infrastructure either above or below ground, and do so immediately.

EION and Telenorma were chosen to supply the wireless solution through a competitive tender process, as they met both the technical and pricing requirements of the project.  The solution provided consists of more than 30 base stations, the EION Ranger 1030 for 5km links, the EION Ranger 5110 for extensions of up to 20km, and Tidal broadband gateways for management and quality of service provisioning.

"We have been able to demonstrate a clear advantage over the competition both from technology and product features, as well as on cost of ownership - making this a very compelling offering to EMCALI," stated Ernie Isaak, Latin American Operations for EION.

Mario Londono, General Manager for Telenorma commented "working closely with the customer through deployment and training, we are committed to deliver sustainable solutions, while using advanced technologies that will give them a competitive advantage in the Colombian market."

EMCALI expects that this deployment will enable them to generate more demand for high speed and increased bandwidth services, extend its customer base and optimize its communications infrastructure for increased business.  The addition of this new equipment will initially provide service to less than 1000 users, and help EMCALI plan for future growth and expansion at a more rapid rate.