SR Telecom Joins WiMAX Forum - Standards adoption key to developing the broadband wireless market

MONTREAL, June 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SR Telecom(TM) Inc. (TSX: SRX), the world leader in fixed wireless access solutions, today announced it has joined the WiMAX Forum (http://www.wimaxforum.org). WiMAX is an industry group of leading broadband wireless system vendors whose objective is to accelerate the introduction into the marketplace of wireless broadband equipment that adheres to the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE(x)) 802.16 technical standard, speeding up last-mile broadband deployment worldwide.

"International technical standards are important for enabling the broadband wireless market to reach its full potential as a high-volume alternative for last-mile access," said Allan Klein, SR Telecom' s Vice- President, Technology. "Our swing(TM) and shift(TM) product lines, also based on international wireless standards, are among the most cost-effective fixed wireless solutions on the market today for residential voice and data applications."

SR Telecom first became involved with the 802.16 standards initiative in 2000 and was pleased to see the recent publication of the 802.16a standard for frequency bands from 2 to 11 GHz. 802.16a is a standard that offers tremendous flexibility to systems vendors to develop high-performance wireless networks. SR Telecom believes that the work of WiMAX is essential in order to make interoperability between 802.16 equipment from multiple vendors a reality. Towards this goal, the members of WiMAX have started working on defining specific access profiles that will describe the minimum requirements for system interoperability. Subsequently, WiMAX will also be certifying equipment that meets these requirements.

"Given SR Telecom's leadership in the worldwide deployment of wireless voice and data systems, we are pleased to have them join WiMAX," said WiMAX President, Margaret LaBrecque. "SR Telecom's particular expertise in developing national deployments will ensure that our efforts are truly global in perspective and deliver usage models suited for regions with poor and/or non-existent wired infrastructure."

802.16a is targeted specifically at wide area broadband wireless access and differentiates itself from other wireless standards mainly by enabling radios to support very high symmetric data rates - up to several 10's of megabits per second - over non-line-of sight radio paths. The high throughput will make 802.16a equipment well suited for delivering high-speed services to businesses, backhauling Wi-Fi hot-spots and for residential broadband applications.

About SR Telecom

SR Telecom is a world leader and innovator in Fixed Wireless Access technology, which links end-users to networks using wireless transmissions. SR Telecom's field-proven solutions include equipment, network planning, project management, installation and maintenance services. The Company offers the industry's broadest portfolio of fixed wireless products, designed to enable carriers and service providers to rapidly deploy high-quality voice, high- speed data and broadband applications. These products, which are used in over 110 countries, are among the most advanced and reliable available today.

SR TELECOM is a trademark of SR Telecom Inc. All rights reserved 2002. All other trademarks are property of their owners.

Source: SR Telecom Inc.

CONTACT: David Adams, Vice-President, Finance and CFO, (514) 335-4035, david_adams@srtelecom.com; Paul Goyette, Director, Communications, (514) 335-2429, ext. 4361, paul_goyette@srtelecom.com; Scott Lawrence, Maison Brison, (514) 731-0000, scott@maisonbrison.com; http://www.srtelecom.com