UTStarcom Boosts Bangalore R&D

GURGAON, India -- UTStarcom, Inc. (Nasdaq: UTSI), a leading global provider of wireless and wireline access and IP switching solutions, today announced plans to invest U.S. $25 million in its Development Center at Bangalore in India. The expansion will entail doubling employee strength at the facility to 150 engineers over the next two months.

"India is a strategic market for UTStarcom, and our R&D investments in India reiterate our commitment to the country and our customers there," said Ruchir Godura, country manager & director of south Asia operations. "The expansion of the Bangalore Development Center raises our aggregate investments in R&D in India to $50 million, with two full-fledged global R&D centers focusing on cutting-edge development work."

The Bangalore Development Center will undertake 'core' research and design to support UTStarcom's leading 2G and 3G CDMA Data, Voice-Over-IP (VoIP) and Personal Communication Management Systems (PCMS) (Unified Messaging) solutions. With the expansion of the facility, approximately 50 percent of global development work relating to these product lines will now be handled in India.

"UTStarcom enjoys a dominant position in the global 2G and 3G CDMA data and softswitch arena," said Jerry Soloway, senior vice president of engineering at UTStarcom. "With the quality of manpower available and the expertise we have built up in India, the Bangalore Develop Center will enable us to focus on developing new, innovative technologies in these product areas that will continue to push UTStarcom's ability to compete in the marketplace."

The Bangalore Development Center, which was established by Mascon Global in 2001, came into the UTStarcom Corporation with the May 2003 acquisition of CommWorks, the carrier division of 3Com. This is the second R&D center UTStarcom has in India since the construction of its facility in Gurgaon in 2002.

In 2002, UTStarcom announced an investment of U.S. $25 million in its global R&D facility at Gurgaon.

"The Bangalore R&D Center will provide a great opportunity for Indian software professionals to work on challenging R&D projects to support next- generation telecommunication solutions," said Chandru Bolaki, director of the Bangalore Development Center.

UTStarcom Inc.