Wireless Company Prepares for Industry's First Ultra-wideband Products Based on Recent FCC Ruling
VIENNA, Virginia, June 10, 2002 - In anticipation of launching the industry's first commercial ultra-wideband product under the new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules, XtremeSpectrum today announced it has completed a $12 million round of venture funding from an expanded investor base, representing both new and existing investors. New investors in this third round of funding include POD Holding, a large Scandinavian venture fund. All previous investors, including Cisco Systems; Motorola, Inc.; Alliance Technology Ventures; Texas Instruments' venture capital initiative, Granite Ventures; and Novak Biddle Venture Partners, also participated in this round at pro-rata levels or higher.
"As the interest in ultra-wideband continues to escalate, we are preparing for our first US product launch. This round of funding will enable us to complete that launch and continue to expand our customer support organization as we begin shipping product for consumer electronics applications," said Martin Rofheart, CEO of XtremeSpectrum.
XTREMESPECTRUM ANNOUNCES $12 MILLION IN THIRD ROUND OF FUNDING Wireless Company Prepares for Industry's First Ultra-wideband Products Based on Recent FCC Ruling VIENNA, Virginia, June 10, 2002 - In anticipation of launching the industry's first commercial ultra-wideband product under the new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules, XtremeSpectrum today announced it has completed a $12 million round of venture funding from an expanded investor base, representing both new and existing investors. New investors in this third round of funding include POD Holding, a large Scandinavian venture fund. All previous investors, including Cisco Systems; Motorola, Inc.; Alliance Technology Ventures; Texas Instruments' venture capital initiative, Granite Ventures; and Novak Biddle Venture Partners, also participated in this round at pro-rata levels or higher. "As the interest in ultra-wideband continues to escalate, we are preparing for our first US product launch. This round of funding will enable us to complete that launch and continue to expand our customer support organization as we begin shipping product for consumer electronics applications," said Martin Rofheart, CEO of XtremeSpectrum. "Ultra-wideband holds tremendous promise as a wireless technology for consumer connectivity in the residential market," said Carl Panasik of Texas Instrument's Wireless Terminals Business Unit. "Having been an early investor with XtremeSpectrum, we are very encouraged by the FCC's recent approval and believe XtremeSpectrum's bi-phase modulated ultra-wideband product will enable wireless connectivity in a host of applications".
XtremeSpectrum, which will bring wireless system semiconductor solutions to the emerging consumer/home networking market, anticipates shipping its initial ultra-wideband product within the next quarter.
"XtremeSpectrum has developed an innovative ultra-wideband implementation that will have a profound impact on wireless connectivity applications," said Peter Lawrence, managing director of POD Holding. "Our investment in the company signals our belief in ultra-wideband's applicability for distributing digital video and audio in a broad array of consumer applications and XtremeSpectrum's ability to lead the commercialization of this technology. In particular, we are excited by the ability of XtremeSpectrum to enable high data rate, battery-powered products with no significant impact on battery life. We are encouraged by XtremeSpectrum's progress and look forward to the company's initial product launch."
About XtremeSpectrum's Ultra-wideband Technology
Ultra-wideband is a wireless technology that transmits an extremely low power signal over a wide swath of radio spectrum. Unlike conventional radio systems that operate within a relatively narrow bandwidth, i.e. Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11a, ultra-wideband operates across a wide range of frequency spectrum by transmitting a series of very narrow and low power pulses. The combination of broader spectrum, lower power and pulsed data means that ultra-wideband causes less interference than conventional narrowband radio solutions, and delivers wire-like performance in an indoor wireless environment. This makes ultra-wideband technology ideal for consumer electronics applications such as camcorders, laptops, DVDs, digital cameras, etc.
In February 2002 the FCC unanimously approved rules for the unlicensed use of ultra-wideband technology in commercial applications. On April 22, 2002, the FCC issued the First Report & Order, which constitutes formal approval of unlicensed spectrum between 3.1 GHz and 10.6 GHz for ultra-wideband technology.
About XtremeSpectrum
Founded in 1998, XtremeSpectrum Inc. is a wireless communications company developing system semiconductor solutions for the multimedia connectivity industry. Leveraging its unique understanding of ultra-wideband, XtremeSpectrum's patent-pending, ultra-wideband digital radio will allow multimedia-enabled devices, such as phones, set-top boxes, laptops, DVDs, video recorders and PDAs, to send and receive multiple streams of digital video, audio and data wirelessly, all at extremely low price points and power consumption levels-levels that cannot be reached by existing solutions. XtremeSpectrum will focus on customers in the OEM consumer electronic, OEM PC, PC-peripheral manufacturing, and wireless networking ODM/OEM spaces. For more information about the company, please call 703/269-3000 or visit http://www.xtremespectrum.com
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