Airespace Breaks Into Europe

GUILDFORD, UK -- Airespace, Inc., the leader in the design and development of wireless networking platforms that support business-critical applications, today announced its first European customer, Imtech Telecom, a leading Dutch communications networking company.

Also announced today, and coinciding with its launch into Europe, Airespace has established partnerships with leading European value-added resellers and systems integrators, including Softway in France; Avanet in the Netherlands; Applynet solutions, NBAserv, and Sigma in the UK; and worldnet21 in Spain. By forging key relationships with best-in-class partners, Airespace is positioned to become a Wireless LAN market leader in the European theatre.

"In Europe, whilst much of the attention has focused on the WLAN hotspot market, the immediate opportunity is in the Enterprise WLAN market," said Marcel Dridje, general manager of EMEA for Airespace. "With European customers such as Imtech and a pan-European partner network in place, its clear that the time has come for Wireless LAN deployment in the enterprise. In my two decades of working in the pan-European networking theatre, I have never seen the kind of responsiveness to a new product which our partners are showing to Airespace.

"As our customers are the leaders in European wireless communications, we evaluate all of the wireless technologies on the market," said Niels Everstijn, director of business development & technology at Imtech Telecom. "We were so impressed with Airespace's cutting edge solution that we decided to deploy it internally within our organization. We have deployed their WLAN technology throughout our business and are impressed by its best of breed security, reliability, and manageability.

"Airespace is setting the standard for enterprise wireless networking," said Fari Boustantchi, chief executive officer at Softway, the leading French distributor of networking, security, and QoS hardware and services. "They offer a robust platform that can easily integrate into existing enterprise environments. By adding the Airespace platform to our product portfolio, Softway can cost effectively deliver all of the components needed for enterprise-scale wireless networking.

"Of all the players in the market, only Airespace can support business-class applications for enterprises," said Hendo Weernink of Avanet, a leading reseller in the Netherlands. "Only Airespace provides both the required visibility and control of the radio environment along side high-performance wireless networking.

"We are delighted to help spearhead Airespace's launch into the U.K.," said Craig Symington of Sigma A&M, a leading U.K. systems consultancy. "Sigma A&M's experts combined with Airespace's market-leading technology will provide our enterprise customers with a business-critical Wireless LAN they can put to work.

"ApplyNet completed a comprehensive scan of all the players in the WLAN space, including incumbents and new entrants," said Nigel Townsend, chief operating officer of ApplyNet, "and we concluded the best partner for our customers is Airespace."

In a separate release:

GUILDFORD, ENGLAND & SAN JOSE, CALIF. -- Airespace, Inc., the leader in the design and development of wireless networking platforms that support business-critical applications, today announced the launch of its EMEA operations, headquartered in Guildford, U.K. and the appointment of Marcel Dridje as General Manager for EMEA.

With Infonetics forecasting European Wireless LAN hardware revenue to reach over EUR 450 million by the end of 2003 -- up from EUR 100 million in 1Q03, Airespace has secured agreements with several major resellers and partners throughout Europe for localized sales and support services, including onsite technical assistance and spare parts warehousing for rapid customer response.

Airespace-Ready partners currently exist in several major European countries, including France, Netherlands, U.K., Portugal, and Spain. By establishing a base for sales and marketing operations in EMEA, and forging key relationships with best-in-class partners, Airespace is positioned to become a market leader in the European theatre.

"Marcel is a valuable addition to the Airespace team," said Brett Galloway, CEO and president of Airespace. "His long track record of leadership in bringing best-in-class solutions to European enterprises and service providers will be critical as Airespace expands into Europe."

Dridje has 20 years experience in European sales & marketing for both U.S. Fortune 100 companies and high-tech startups. Prior to joining Airespace, he headed the European Sales & Marketing operation for Packetlight Networks, a leading Metro DWDM systems and all-optical networks supplier. He was the Service Provider Business Development Director for Lucent Technologies, where he led the sales effort for the company's data networking portfolio in Europe. Before joining Lucent via the Livingston Enterprises acquisition, Marcel spearheaded the ASCEND brand and pioneered the French remote access market into various ISPs and inside France Telecom back in 1994.

"I feel fortunate to join such a remarkable company at a great time in its ascendancy to market leadership," said Marcel Dridje. "The Airespace system has a unique set of capabilities that make it ideally suited for European enterprises. By integrating real-time RF management with seamless mobility, intrusion protection, and RF prediction, Airespace simplifies WLAN planning and operations, while creating a completely secure RF environment. In addition, Airespace is the only WLAN platform that has been independently certified to support voice services, which is a major advantage in the European market where packetised voice is increasing in popularity."

Airespace Inc.