Leuven – Belgium, July 5 2005 – Option N.V. (Euronext: OPTI, OTC: OPNVY), the wireless technology company, today announced that Swisscom Mobile has selected Option’s GlobeTrotter COMBO EDGE™ as its EDGE data solution for the Swiss market. The data card is marketed under Swisscom Mobile’s brand ‘Unlimited PC Card EDGE/GPRS/WLAN’. The GlobeTrotter COMBO EDGE™ is the second data card from the Option portfolio of wireless data cards to be selected by Swisscom, and follows the success of the GlobeTrotter FUSION™ data card launched on the Swiss market last year.
Swisscom Mobile, Switzerland’s leading Telecoms Company, with a customer base of 4.0 million mobile users, recently announced the launch of EDGE and as such introduced Switzerland’s first broadband mobile network with nationwide coverage. EDGE complements Swisscom Mobile’s existing technology mix, which includes UMTS and WLAN, and increases the average mobile bandwidth from 30 to as much as 200 kbps. After having announced EDGE mobile phones, the company now introduces its first EDGE/WLAN PC data card for mobile professionals.
Swisscom Mobile’s UMTS network currently supplies some 90% of the Swiss population and is complemented by more than 800 WLAN hotspots enabling very high bandwidths in some locations. Thanks to the combination of these technologies and the recent inclusion of EDGE, the mobile bandwidth available to NATEL® customers has been increased from 30 to 100-200 kbps – many times faster than that of ISDN which is available more or less all over Switzerland. With this move, Swisscom Mobile is again taking a leading role in Switzerland and Europe.
Mobile Unlimited, the service that comes with all Swisscom data cards, enables fast, uninterrupted mobile access to the Internet and company data. The software always selects the fastest available technology (GPRS, EDGE or WLAN) at any given time. Due to the integration of seamless handover technology, the connection remains up during the switchover from one transmission technology to another. The user only has to connect once. With Mobile Unlimited data communications are as simple and fast on the move as they are from a fixed workstation with broadband access.
Other mobile operators can licence Mobile Unlimited seamless handover technology from Option under the brand name “Unlimited Connection”. Option offers the Unlimited Connection companion software as a complement to its range of wireless data cards and is taking the lead in the world wide marketing of Unlimited Connection.
About Option
Option NV (www.option.com), the wireless technology company, is a leading innovator in the design, development and manufacture of 3G WCDMA (HSDPA and UMTS), EDGE, GPRS, GSM and WLAN technology products for wireless connectivity solutions. Option has built up an enviable reputation for creating exciting products that enhance the performance and functionality of wireless communications. Option’s headquarters are in Leuven, Belgium. The company has Research & Development in Leuven, a Software and Applications development centre in Adelsried (Germany) and an ISO 9002 production engineering and logistics facility in Cork, Ireland.
For more information please contact:
Douglas Ros, Vice President Business Development & Marketing
Tel +32 (0)16 317 411
E-mail: d.ros@option.com
Frederic Convent, CFO
Tel + 32 (0) 16 317 411
E-mail: investor@option.com