Tarana Wireless™ officially unveiled today its plans to bring to market the world’s first universal small cell backhaul solution that not only meets all mobile carrier requirements but can also be deployed anywhere small cells are located. With this offering, Tarana has solved the small cell backhaul dilemma that until now has been a significant barrier to large-scale small cell adoption.

Tarana is the first true metro scale solution, incorporating dedicated high capacity per wireless link and the ability to retain performance even as small cell density increases. In addition, it uniquely supports full throughput across a complete range of non-line-of-sight (NLoS) to line-of-sight (LoS) operation, enabling maximum flexibility in deployment. The spectral efficiency and interference immunity abilities are unmatched, significantly reducing operational costs while increasing link reliability. Requiring minimal planning and installation time, Tarana products simplify and accelerate rollout. Overall, Tarana’s universal small cell backhaul solution delivers the lowest total cost of ownership available.

Mobile carriers globally are being challenged to keep pace with the soaring demand for mobile data capacity. This demand is being driven by the ever-expanding number of smart mobile devices coupled with rapid adoption of bandwidth-hungry multimedia applications. To address these shortfalls, 86% of carriers plan to utilize small cells to augment macro cell capacity, according to Infonetics Research. However, despite several attempts to leverage legacy technologies, carriers report the market has failed to deliver a scalable backhaul solution that works universally.

Tarana was conceived by a distinguished team of engineering researchers associated with the University of California, Berkeley. Through their research, they recognized the escalating worldwide need for a new wireless paradigm to overcome the significant weaknesses of wireless backhaul systems. Together with industry veteran Dale Branlund, the team conceived of an unprecedented wireless network that could deliver high capacity anywhere at a low cost. Tarana Wireless was privately funded in 2011 by a syndicate of four globally diversified investors to address the emerging wireless backhaul market opportunity, forecast by ABI Research to reach shipment of 5 million links by 2017. Tarana co-founders are Sergiu Nedevschi Ph.D., chief product officer; Dale Branlund, chief technology officer; Omar Bakr Ph.D., chief scientist; Rabin Patra Ph.D., vice president systems, and Kevin Jones, vice president product innovation.

“While other vendors have claimed NLoS and high bandwidth links, the market has confirmed that no small cell backhaul product to date provides the range, capacity, link availability, and scale carriers need to address the exponential growth in wireless data demand,” said Branlund. “Unfortunately, these limitations are inherent in their legacy approaches. Tarana has created a new paradigm in wireless networking that we are bringing to market and I am proud to be a part of this innovative and talented team.” Branlund brings over three decades of wireless industry experience to Tarana and has taken a key role in architecting the Company’s technology. Prior to Tarana he was a co-founder and senior technical executive in three innovative and successful wireless startups – BRN Phoenix, BeamReach Networks, and Radix Technologies.

Steve Sifferman, president and chief executive officer, joined the Company in 2011 to head the Company’s strategic and business direction. He has more than 20 years of executive and engineering management experience in the wireless communications industry, including executive positions with ArrayComm, Inc. and Powerwave Technologies. “I am excited and pleased by the tremendous interest and positive feedback we’ve received from mobile carriers worldwide regarding Tarana’s unique products, and we look forward to being a key enabler of small cell deployments,” said Sifferman. “We expect carrier trials over the coming months will confirm Tarana as the new standard for small cell backhaul across the industry.”

Rounding out the expertise of the founding team are seasoned industry executives that have joined to bring Tarana products to market. Harry May serves as vice president RF engineering, providing extensive experience in development of innovative commercial radio communications solutions following senior roles at Exalt Communications, Radix Technologies and Argo Systems. Andrew Hill is vice president operations and has a strong background in global supply chain management and manufacturing from his leadership roles at companies including Nokia, Diamond Lane and Stanford Telecom.

The Company is supported by a prominent Board of Directors with extensive backgrounds in wireless telecommunications and corporate governance. Board members are:

• Harald Braun - former president and chief executive officer of Aviat Networks; former CEO Nokia Siemens Networks, North America;
• Bob Hunsberger - president and chief executive officer of NetMotion Wireless; former president and chief executive officer of WidComm (now part of Broadcom); former president and chief executive officer of Metawave Communications;
• J. Barry Morrissey - former co-managing partner of Brobeck, Hale and Dorr and senior partner of Hale and Dorr’s International Division;
• Tarana Executives - Steve Sifferman and Sergiu Nedevschi.

Tarana has scheduled carrier trials in the Americas and Europe in 2013. The Company will be publicly showcasing its small cell backhaul solution for the first time at the 2013 Mobile World Congress, February 25-28 in Barcelona, Spain (Stand 6C94). This is the largest annual event attracting mobile industry executives and media from around the world.

About Tarana Wireless

Headquartered in Santa Clara, CA, Tarana Wireless has pioneered the only universal wireless small cell backhaul solution that meets mobile carrier requirements and provides the flexibility and simplicity of deploying of a single product anywhere small cells are located. Tarana uniquely provides carriers with the flexibility to deploy small cells anywhere without compromising backhaul capacity or coverage. Built from the ground up as a carrier class product, this breakthrough innovation combines ubiquitous coverage, unprecedented capacity and scalability, and unparalleled cost effectiveness.

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