DragonWave Gets Altitude in France, Shines Bright in Latin America

Source: Ottawa Business Journal
September 9, 2008 - Ottawa, Canada

DragonWave Inc. (TSX:DWI) is continuing its streak of international wins with new deals in France and the Caribbean and Latin American markets.

The Ottawa-based company said France's Altitude Infrastructure had selected DragonWave's AirPair technology to provide high-capacity Ethernet backhaul as part of its rollout of WiMAX broadband services across the country.

"Operators in more and more markets are validating our IP (Internet protocol) backhaul solutions as the state-of-the-art, high-capacity transport option for 3G and 4G (third-generation and fourth-generation) base stations," said DragonWave CEO Peter Allen in a statement. "We will continue to work closely with Altitude to assist in its expansion plans in France and with WiMAX operators throughout Europe and other international markets."

To date, Altitude has chosen DragonWave's AirPair solution for four regional deployments in the Haute Garonne, Deux Sevres, Jura and Pyrenees Atlantiques areas, as part of Altitude's plans to double the number of base stations in its WiMAX network to 600.

DragonWave's Horizon and AirPair wireless networking product lines have also been deployed this year in Bermuda, Venezuela and Russia.

In a separate release, the company also announced that it has signed an agreement with Miami's Brightstar Corp., which will see its new partner distributing DragonWave's Horizon and AirPair technology in the Caribbean and Latin American markets. Brightstar specializes in customized distribution and integrated supply chain solutions for the wireless industry, and operates in 50 countries on six continents.

However, the markets appeared unimpressed by DragonWave's announcements, with the company's share price dropping three cents on the Toronto Stock Exchange, to $3.29 at 1:22 p.m.