CDG CONGRATULATES STARCOMMS OF NIGERIA ON DEPLOYING THE WORLD’S MOST ADVANCED 3G BROADBAND NETWORK

Starcomms Launches First West African CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Revision A Network in Nigerian Capital

COSTA MESA, CALIF. — October 1, 2007 — The CDMA Development Group (CDG) today congratulates Starcomms Nigeria Ltd. on its deployment of West Africa’s first CDMA2000^® 1xEV-DO Revision A (Rev. A) network in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria and West Africa’s largest economy. The CDG expects this deployment to accelerate the pace of 3G CDMA mobile broadband adoption for the entire region.

“The CDG applauds Starcomms for its leadership in bringing the world’s most advanced wireless telecommunications technology to the economic hub of West Africa,” said Perry LaForge, executive director of the CDG. “Starcomms’ Rev. A network will have a broad and powerful impact on the region by demonstrating not only how 3G can drive operator revenue, but how 3G CDMA can outpace competing wireless and wireline technologies in performance and technological relevance.”

To improve service flexibility and economic performance, Starcomms’ Rev. A network has been enhanced with an IP-based, next generation (NGN) SoftSwitch-enabled network architecture. Starcomms also has sourced 10,000 Rev. A PCMCIA data cards from Huawei to support the introduction of several cutting-edge mobile data services. CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev. A offers average data throughputs of 600-1400 kbps with bursts up to 3.1 Mbps in the forward link, and average data throughputs of 350-500 kbps with bursts up to 1.8 Mbps in the reverse link, substantially lower latencies, greater bi-directional symmetry and advanced Quality of Service mechanisms to support a myriad of advanced mobile broadband and delay sensitive services.

With Rev. A, Starcomms’ business subscribers can quickly upload large data files and emails with attachments while “on-the-go” and instantly and securely access the Internet and their proprietary intranets wherever they are. Consumers can listen to and share high-quality stereophonic music, capture and share high-resolution photography and personal videos, and watch real-time television, video and mobile movies, directly on their Rev. A phones or other mobile devices. Rev. A also supports multimedia multicasting and delay-sensitive services such as voice over IP (VoIP), Push-to-Multimedia (PTM), social multimedia networking, and rich 3D gaming with multiple players.

“CDMA2000’s evolution path and significant first-to-market advantage have always been its strongest points,” said Maher Qubain, CEO of Starcomms. “With Rev. A, mobile broadband services in Africa can finally take off. Our state-of-the-art CDMA2000 network offers Starcomms customers the most powerful and affordable experience in telephony today.”

About Starcomms Ltd.
Starcomms Ltd. is the leading 3G Wireless Operator in Nigeria. It has positioned itself as a Total Communication Services Provider, offering fixed wireless and mobile voice, data and fax services, and has connected more than 800,000 subscribers to date. Starcomms Ltd. is a privately held Nigerian company that is backed by 2 of the world’s largest emerging market private equity firms Actis and EMP Africa and founded by Chief Maan Lababidi. Its headquarters are in Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria. For more information, please go to www.starcomms.com.

About CDMA2000
CDMA2000 is the most widely deployed 3G technology, with 227 operators in 97 countries, including 77 CDMA2000 1xEV-DO systems, serving more than 350 million subscribers.  Counting 2G cdmaOne™ subscribers, there are more than 387 million CDMA users worldwide.  CDMA2000 has become the technology of choice for cdmaOne, TDMA, analog and greenfield operators, and is deployed in the 450, 700, 800, 1700, 1900 and 2100 MHz bands. More than 1,670 CDMA2000 devices from over 92 suppliers have been introduced to the market, including more than 440 1xEV-DO and 26 Rev A devices. More information on CDMA2000 is available on the CDG Web site at www.cdg.org.

About CDG
The CDMA Development Group is a trade association formed to foster the worldwide development, implementation and use of CDMA2000 technologies. The more than 130 member companies of the CDG include many of the world’s largest wireless carriers and equipment manufacturers. The primary activities of the CDG include development of CDMA2000 features and services, public relations, education and seminars, regulatory affairs and international support. Currently, there are more than 500 individuals working within various CDG subcommittees on CDMA2000-related matters. For more information about the CDG, contact the CDG News Bureau at +1-714-540-1030, or visit the CDG Web site at www.cdg.org.  

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 Note to editors
cdmaOne is a registered trademark of the CDMA Development Group. CDMA2000 is a registered trademark of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA-USA).