Investor Relations

China's Electric Power Project Contractor Chooses MPLS-TP TN Portfolio for Data Service Carrier Network

ALAMEDA, Calif., Nov. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- UTStarcom, Inc. (Nasdaq: UTSI) announced today that it has secured a contract with Shandong Electric Power Corporation (SEPCO) for its recently launched NetRing(TM) Transport Network product portfolio (NetRing TN). SEPCO will use the NetRing TN solutions to build a data service carrier network for SEPCO's Dezhou Grid, marking the first commercial application of packet transport network (PTN) in China's domestic power industry.

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"It is clear that the need for packet-based core transport solutions extends far beyond traditional network services," said Peter Blackmore, CEO of UTStarcom. "SEPCO invested in our TN solution because we could deliver increased network efficiencies while simultaneously lowering operating costs. This reinforces the value of UTStarcom's new PTN portfolio and demonstrates an opportunity to expand our reach to broader customer markets, such as the power industry."

Confronted with mass data processing, SEPCO chose UTStarcom's multiprotocol label switching - transport profile (MPLS-TP) solution to assist with data transmission between the regional, municipal and county-level power grid assets in ten sub-cities within the Dezhou and Shandong provinces. During this three-phase deployment, UTStarcom will apply two sets of NetRing TN725 and twelve sets of NetRing TN705 to the grid to form the core convergence layer 10 gigabyte mesh network. Additionally, ten sets of NetRing TN703 will be deployed to create an access layer of Gigabit Ethernet network that delivers high bandwidth efficiency and reliability to the Dezhou Grid and can provide complete administrative control over the electric data network.

"SEPCO is committed to innovation, and as a result, we're experiencing rapid growth in our data services. This is generating new requirements for efficiency, flexibility, reliability and manageability of our network bandwidth - which our original MSTP network can no longer support," said Yong Zhang, Chief Engineer of SEPCO. "We look to the experience, expertise and forward-thinking technology of UTStarcom to accelerate the evolution of our data transmission technology from MSTP to PTN. This advanced new platform will ensure that we meet the needs of smart grid now and in the future."

For more information about the NetRing TN solutions portfolio, please visit http://www.utstar.com/Products/Optical_Transport_Networks/MPLS-TP/ .

About Shandong Electric Power Corporation

Shandong Electric Power Corporation undertakes critical responsibility of supplying safe, reliable and high-quality electricity to support social and economic development and optimizing allocation of electric resources in the province by planning, constructing and operating Shandong Grid. It directly serves 7.63 million clients with power supply to over 93 million people. A total staff of 40,300 is distributed to 17 city-level power suppliers and 31 ultra-high-voltage companies and infrastructure constructors. It is also mandated to manage 90 county-level bulk sale power suppliers across the province.

About UTStarcom, Inc.

UTStarcom is a global leader in IP-based, end-to-end networking solutions and international service and support. The company sells its solutions to operators in both emerging and established telecommunications markets around the world. UTStarcom enables its customers to rapidly deploy revenue-generating access services using their existing infrastructure, while providing a migration path to cost-efficient, end-to-end IP networks. The company was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Alameda, California. For more information about UTStarcom, visit the company's Web site at http://www.utstar.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding UTStarcom's future strategy, including statements regarding the company's transport network product portfolios. These statements are forward-looking in nature and subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in our forward-looking statements include: increased competition; economic issues in the identified geographic markets; failure to rapidly and successfully develop and introduce new products; risks associated with delays in product development or customer acceptance and implementation of new products and technologies. Please also refer to UTStarcom's periodic reports that are filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange commission, including our latest Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. UTStarcom assumes no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update these forward-looking statements.

SOURCE UTStarcom, Inc.