ALAMEDA, Calif. -- UTStarcom, Inc. (Nasdaq: UTSI), today announced that its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Hong Lu, notified the Board of Directors of his resignation. Mr. Lu will remain as Chairman and CEO of the company until December 31, 2006, focusing on the Company's strategic opportunities and assisting during the transition. Mr. Lu will remain as a strategic advisor to the company after his formal departure in December. Tom Toy, currently an independent director of UTStarcom, will assume the position of chairman of the board as of January 1, 2007.

"I believe that now is the right time for me to pass the company's leadership to a new management team who will take UTStarcom to the next stage," stated Hong Lu. "I have great confidence in the company's prospects and believe that its new leadership and employees will successfully carry the business forward."

"Hong's vision drove the company's growth into a multi-billion dollar provider of IP-based telecom equipment, and become the leader in China's PAS market," stated Tom Toy. In addition, under Hong's leadership, UTStarcom has been successful in expanding the company's presence in such markets as Japan, India, Latin America, Europe and North America. We thank him for his tremendous contributions and tireless commitment to the company and wish him the very best in all his future endeavors."

"Hong has been great leader and a great friend and partner for the last 11 years," added Ying Wu. "I am confident that together we will make the transition smoothly and I truly believe that UTStarcom has a bright future with a great team of employees."

Ying Wu, CEO of China, will assume the CEO position as of January 1, 2007. Mr. Wu has been UTStarcom's Executive Vice-President and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors since October 1995. Prior to its merger with Unitech Telecom, Inc., he was the President of Starcom, Inc. Before founding Starcom, Inc., Mr. Wu was a member of the technical staff of Bellcore (now Telcordia). From 1987 to 1988, Mr. Wu was a consultant to AT&T Bell Labs (now part of Lucent Technologies). He holds an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Beijing Industrial University.

UTStarcom also announced that it started a search for a Chief Operating Officer who will be responsible for overseeing UTStarcom's worldwide operations and supporting its infrastructure enhancement efforts. This position, based in California, will work closely with the CEO in executing on the Company's strategy.