‘Be’ to launch 24 meg broadband in the UK – www.BeThere.co.uk

30 June 2005 – Brand new internet service provider Be is on the verge of launching 24 meg download speeds – the fastest in the UK and triple the speed of the current leading competitor. Using ADSL2+ technology that doubles the download bandwidth, together with LLU (Local Loop Unbundling), Be’s new service is a revolutionary overhaul of the UK broadband market. The rollout will start in London, quickly expanding to the rest of the UK.

For Boris Ivanovic, co-founder of Be, this will be the second time he has broken the broadband speed record. In April 2001, he purchased Sweden’s fledging ISP Bostream and launched 26 meg broadband – growing its customer base dramatically from 2,000 to 100,000, and from a $1m to $55m revenue, in just three years.

"The deregulation of the market makes this a very exciting time for the UK and Be is here to make the most of it, offering customers the full capability of ADSL2+ from launch," said Boris. "There is no reason to drag out the increase in speed and launch in steps of 1 meg or 2 meg when the capability is there to offer the maximum speeds available – which is what Be is all about."

Be has the benefit of building a completely new network based on the latest technologies, allowing it to provide a higher quality product than anyone else in the UK. The company is able to deliver its dramatic speed increase at a remarkably low cost due to Ethernet backhauling and aggregation. It is also able to provide a better service than most, through the use of a highly customisable network infrastructure.

Be is the first operator in the UK to use Alcatel’s latest generation DSLAM (the Alcatel 7302 Intelligent Services Access Manager), as well as aggregation and routing equipment which will give Be the ability to offer the latest products and services that will change the face of broadband in the UK.

"Alcatel's innovation in research and development and our work with the standardization bodies gives Be access to the most powerful broadband technology," said Michel Rahier, in charge of Alcatel’s fixed communications activities. "Be has a very exciting proposition for the UK market and has promising plans for their evolution towards a user-centric triple play service offering."



ENDS



Media Contacts at www.BeThere.co.uk



Paul Smyth

Be Media Team

BOTTLE PR

t: 01865 882 988

m: 07968 942 325

paulsmyth@bottlepr.co.uk



Claire Cairns

Be Media Team

BOTTLE PR

t: 01865 882 988

m: 07956 086870

claire@bottlepr.co.uk





Notes to Editors



About Be – www.BeThere.co.uk

Be Unlimited ("Be") is the UK’s new ultra high-speed broadband internet service provider (ISP). The company was established in October 2004, with the working name Avatar Broadband Ltd., by Boris Ivanovic and Dana Pressman. The company will be deploying its own network in the UK, utilising the Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) EU directive, which allows independent operators to lease incumbent’s (British Telecom in the case of the UK market) last mile access infrastructure.



Be is run by a team of experts with extensive experience in the broadband and systems fields. The core team including Boris Ivanovic (Founder and Executive Director) came from Bostream, the largest Swedish DSL operator after Telia (the incumbent) prior to being sold to their largest competitor. They include Jocke Garmer (CIO), Johanna Arvestal (Product Manager) and Rickard Reite (Chief developer). Dana Pressman (Managing Director) has long experience in managing high growth system development organisations with both Oracle and Sapient.



About Alcatel

Alcatel provides communications solutions to telecommunication carriers, Internet service providers and enterprises for delivery of voice, data and video applications to their customers or to their employees. Alcatel leverages its leading position in fixed and mobile broadband networks, applications and services to bring value to its customers in the framework of a broadband world. With sales of EURO 12.3 billion in 2004, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries. For more information, visit Alcatel on the Internet: http://www.alcatel.com.