ASIA : Partner Communications and Nortel have successfully completed a trial of high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) wireless broadband technology over its live cellular network in Tel Aviv. Partner is joining a limited number of cellular networks around the world which intend to implement HSDPA.

Inset is CEO, Amikam Cohen quoted below.

HSDPA has the ability to deliver broadband wireless at speeds of up to three times faster than today's commercially deployed UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) networks, offering a true mobile broadband experience to subscribers comparable to DSL or ADSL.

The trial, showcased today in Tel Aviv, is the first time HSDPA technology has been demonstrated by any operator or wireless infrastructure supplier in Israel. Nortel and Partner demonstrated advanced wireless and multimedia broadband services, including high-speed music transfers (MP3), DVD-quality video streaming and downloads of large e-mail attachments. The demonstrations were performed simultaneously with two different computers with connection speeds of more than 1 mega bit per second (mbps) over a UMTS network provided by Nortel.

"We are proud to have successfully completed Israel's first HSDPA wireless broadband trial on a live cellular network," said Amikam Cohen, vice president, Technologies, Partner. "Today's announcement demonstrates our commitment of offering the best user experience available to Israeli subscribers while continuously leading the market in technological development."

"We are proud to mark this milestone with Partner," said Alain Biston, vice president, GSM/UMTS, Nortel. "Nortel was the first company in the industry to complete live test calls using HSDPA technology from moving automobiles with commercial mobile phones. The experience we have gained will allow us to accompany Partner in this significant step towards offering HSDPA services commercially, while positioning Partner at the forefront of the world's technology."

HSDPA is the next generation of UMTS, which enables a significant increase in the rate of data downloads. This improvement will enable Partner's customers to enhance their user experience beyond their current experience with UMTS:

-- Feature rich applications - faster and better quality video and audio services as well as advanced interactive services

-- Faster data rates - connecting laptops to high speed mobile Internet services at data rates of 3.6-14.4 mbps

-- Higher network capacity - capable of supporting up to three times as much data traffic and up to twice as many wireless users per cell site.

Nortel's UMTS equipment is designed to enable efficient and cost-effective migration to HSDPA through a simple software installation, eliminating the need for costly hardware replacements.

Nortel recently announced a series of industry milestones with leading chipset and data card vendors. Nortel has also worked with a number of wireless operators on HSDPA trials and deployments in 2005, including mmO2, Orange (at 3GSM World Congress 2005 in Cannes, France), Vodafone (at CeBIT 2005 in Hanover, Germany) and mobilkom austria. Nortel has also announced plans for a major Pan-European HSDPA network deployment.

Nortel has designed, installed and launched more than 300 wireless networks in over 70 countries. Nortel was the industry's first supplier with wireless networks operating in all advanced radio technologies, and is the only end-to-end provider of all next generation wireless solutions.

In 2003 Partner selected Nortel to supply Israel's first third-generation (3G) UMTS network. Today, Partner's commercial UMTS network covers 92% of the population in Israel.

Based in Airport City, Nortel Israel is a subsidiary of Nortel Networks. Active in Israel for more than 25 years, Nortel is the country's largest provider of telecommunications solutions, with clients including Pelephone, Cellcom, Bezeq, the Israeli Ministry of Defense and others.