ATLANTA -- Xtend Networks, a Vyyo company (Nasdaq: VYYO) that provides advanced broadband solutions for the cable TV industry, announced today that former Charter Communications executive Steve Santamaria will join the company as Senior Vice President and General Manager, Commercial Services.

Santamaria, who earned a Pacesetter Award earlier this year for his industry leadership in the commercial services sector while with Charter, will be responsible for all aspects of Xtend's commercial products, including the development and sales of T1 over coax, wireless T1 and T1 cellular backhaul solutions.

The sale of T1 circuits to mobile carriers for the transport of mobile voice traffic between cellular towers and switching offices represents a $20 billion opportunity for cable over the next five years, according to GeoResults, an Atlanta-based consulting firm. Additional revenue opportunities exist through the sale of T1 links to the small to medium business (SMB) market.

"Steve Santamaria has been one of the leading and most influential voices in the cable industry regarding the enormous potential of commercial services and cellular backhaul," said Davidi Gilo, Chairman and CEO of Vyyo Inc. "We anticipate that his understanding of cable operators' needs and his expertise in the commercial services sector will be key contributors to accelerated operator deployment of Xtend solutions."

"A critical need for cable system operators entering the commercial services sector has been the availability of high-quality, highly-reliable solutions that utilize existing cable infrastructure and established cable protocols," said Santamaria. "The low jitter and low latency of Xtend's DOCSIS-based products enable the cable industry for the first time to deploy true telecom-quality T1 services over existing coax or wireless."

As vice president of management service and assistant to the president with Charter, Santamaria's broad responsibilities included helping the company to leverage both its existing network and new wireless extension technologies to service the commercial market. From 2000-2002, Santamaria served as president and CEO of Last Mile Communications/Netbeam Inc., a fixed wireless startup. Santamaria joined Liberty Media's predecessor, Tele-Communications, Inc. (TCI) in 1992 as vice president and general manager of the company's Denver cable system. Over the next eight years, he added regional oversight of TCI operations throughout Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico to his responsibilities.

From 1981 until his employment by TCI in 1992, Santamaria held a variety of key senior field management positions with Group W Cable (formerly TelePrompter), United Cable Direct, Inc. and United Artist/Daniels Cable Television Companies.

Xtend Networks Ltd.