GigaBeam WiFiber(R) To Be Deployed in Boston WiFi Pilot By MetroNext

GigaBeam Corporation (NASDAQ:GGBM) announced today that its WiFiber® wireless fiber links, to be provided by MetroNext Inc., will be the backhaul for the City of Boston’s WiFi pilot project in Roxbury’s Grove Hall and Dudley Station neighborhoods of Boston. As described in the attached City of Boston press release, Boston is taking the first steps in implementing the recommendations of its Wireless Task Force. The Task Force recommended setting up a city wide wholesale non-profit organization to sell WiFi access to any retail entity, and the retailers will provide access to consumers and businesses in Boston. MetroNext Inc. is a "next generation” metropolitan network service provider offering high capacity services for voice, video, data and Internet access. The City of Boston press release said, "MetroNext will provide the network’s Internet backhaul connection; GigaBeam Corp. will provide ultra high-speed radio equipment to facilitate the transmittal of the Internet backhaul.” Tom Wetmore, MetroNext’s founder, said, "We are enthusiastic about the opportunity to provide the City of Boston with fiber speed communications services critical to meeting its laudable objectives.” Mr. Wetmore added, "The Grove Hall and Dudley Square neighborhood pilot gives all of us the opportunity to demonstrate that we can provide underserved metro area residents and businesses in Boston and throughout the United States with vital high-speed communications services at affordable prices.” Lou Slaughter, GigaBeam’s Chairman and CEO, stated, "We are thrilled to be working with MetroNext and the Boston Wireless Initiative in the Grove Hall and Dudley Square area of Boston. This pilot project is a perfect venue to demonstrate the benefits of our 1 Gbps WiFiber product and its advantages to Boston and other cities developing similar WiFi networks. The very high data rate of WiFiber is ideal for the backhaul requirements of the network, including the inevitable peak loadings of WiFi networks supporting many users. We anticipate there will also be additional bandwidth capacity on our links to support other City applications such as administrative, security, video monitoring, large file transfer and storage. We expect this pilot to demonstrate how our WiFiber, with its fiber equivalent capacity, is critical to the deployment of efficient and effective city wide WiFi networks.” GigaBeam WiFiber products operate in the 71-76 GHz and 81-86 GHz radio spectrum bands. This portion of the radio frequency spectrum has been authorized by the Federal Communications Commission and the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) for wireless point-to-point commercial use. Use of these frequency bands for commercial use was pioneered by GigaBeam’s founders. GigaBeam’s technology, utilizing these large blocks of authorized contiguous spectrum, enables multi-Gigabit-per-second communications through use of Gigabit Ethernet and other standard protocols. The current speed achieved by GigaBeam’s WiFiber G-1.25 product series is full duplex at one Gigabit-per-second (equivalent to 647 T1 lines or 1,000 DSL connections) which supports GigE protocol. GigaBeam recently announced its WiFiber G-2.7 series, to be released in Q4, 2006, which will operate at 2.7 Gbps. The protocols to be supported by the G-2.7 product series include 2 x GigE (2 x 1 Gbps); OC-48 / STM-16 (2.488 Gbps); SMPTE 292M (1.485 Gbps) and both 1 and 2 Gbps fiber channel. GigaBeam also plans deployment of future products capable of 10 Gigabits-per-second utilizing either the 10 Gigabit Ethernet or OC-192 protocol standards. GigaBeam’s WiFiber technology is similar to terrestrial fiber in terms of speed and reliability for deployment in Metropolitan Area Networks (MANS). However, WiFiber has a substantial advantage over terrestrial fiber because WiFiber can be deployed in a day and costs less to deploy than terrestrial fiber. Terrestrial fiber can take months to deploy and also require significant regulatory and environmental approvals prior to installation. About GigaBeam Corporation GigaBeam is a provider of high-performance wireless point-to-point communications access solutions that operate in the licensed 71-76 GHz and 81-86 GHz radio spectrum bands. GigaBeam equipment operates at multi-gigabit-per-second speeds. GigaBeam Corporation headquarters is located at 470 Springpark Place, Suite 900, Herndon, VA 20170. For more information, visit www.gigabeam.com. About MetroNext, Inc. MetroNext, Inc. is a "next generation” metropolitan network service provider offering high capacity services for voice, video, data and Internet transport and access at one Gigabit per second and beyond. MetroNext’s backbone completely bypasses local land-line networks. Medium to large scale users—including governments, enterprises, and other carriers—now have their first true network service alternative for primary and back-up communications, as well as disaster recovery. MetroNext high-speed carrier-class Ethernet-based communications services are less costly, just as reliable, and more flexible than current competitive offerings utilizing advanced wireless technology from GigaBeam and MetroNext’s fault tolerant deployment architecture. The equipment and network designs being deployed by MetroNext in the Northeast have already been successfully implemented throughout the US and around the world. For more information, visit www.metronext.com Safe Harbor Statement Statements in this press release regarding GigaBeam's products, services, capabilities, performance, opportunities, development and business outlook that are forward-looking involve and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond GigaBeam's control and difficult to predict, and could cause actual results to differ materially from these anticipated, expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties may include, but are not limited to: lack of operating history, transitioning from a development company to an operating company, difficulties in distinguishing GigaBeam's products and services, ability to manufacture and deploy GigaBeam's products, lack of or delay in market acceptance and fluctuations in customer demand, dependence on a limited number of significant customers, reliance on third party vendors and strategic partners, availability of raw materials, subassemblies and components, ability to meet future capital requirements on acceptable terms, continuing uncertainty in the telecommunications industry and the global economy, intense competition in the telecommunications equipment industry and resulting impact on pricing and general financial performance, compliance with federal and state regulatory requirements, timing, availability and success of new technology and product introductions and the other factors discussed in GigaBeam's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Menino Announces City's First WiFi Pilot Project Grove Hall, Dudley Square Area to Host First Demonstration; Mayor Also Lights Two Downtown WiFi Hot Spots as City's Wireless Initiative Takes Off Mayor Thomas Menino today announced that the city’s wireless initiative will begin work immediately on its first demonstration program, a square-mile network in Roxbury’s Grove Hall and Dudley Square neighborhoods. The mayor also today lit two wireless hot spots in Quincy Market and in the North End’s Columbus Park, making it possible for business people, tourists, and residents who visit the areas to access the Internet anytime. "We said we would move quickly and we have,” Mayor Menino said. "The Boston Wireless Initiative is up and running.” The Quincy Market hot spot will provide service throughout the marketplace area and will also cover the area around City Hall Plaza. Two companies, Galaxy Internet Services and SkyPilot, donated the service and equipment. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 103 (IBEW) donated time and labor for the radio installation. The Columbus Park hot spot is the result of a collaboration among Verizon, Cisco, Inc., the Boston Redevelopment Authority, and the Boston Parks Department. "The downtown locations will help boost economic growth by making the city an even more attractive place to work and visit,” Mayor Menino said. "But the Grove Hall and Dudley Square initiative – which is really a network, not just a hot spot – sends a clear message to the neighborhoods that bringing service to everyone is our number one priority.” In its report last summer, the mayor’s Wireless Task Force found that only 43 percent of Boston residents have high-speed Internet service and city officials estimate that access in less affluent areas like Grove Hall is far below that percentage. What’s more, as many as 80 percent of Boston Public Schools students do not have access at home. In order to bridge this so-called "digital divide” while at the same time jump-starting economic growth, the task force recommended a unique model that relies on a non-profit entity to build the citywide wireless system. The non-profit will build a wholesale network open to any Internet Service Provider, thus creating a hotbed for competition and innovation. Prices for the service are expected to be as low as $10 - $15 a month. According to Menino, the Roxbury demonstration project will cover about one square mile and will reach about 5000 households. The service, which will be 25 times faster than dial-up, will initially be offered free but eventually will move to the fee-based structure envisioned by the task force. Four companies have agreed to donate time and service to the Grove Hall and Dudley Square project: BelAir Networks will provide Wi-Fi mesh radio nodes, antennae and other equipment; MetroNext, Inc. will provide the network’s Internet backhaul connection; GigaBeam Corp. will provide ultra high-speed radio equipment to facilitate the transmittal of the Internet backhaul; and Charys will install and operate the network. In addition, Galaxy and US Internet have agreed to be retail ISPs for the demonstration project. "Building an actual neighborhood network so quickly would not have been possible without the support of these companies and Local 103,” said Pam Reeve, a former software executive who was tapped by Menino in July to serve as interim chief executive of the wireless initiative. Reeve said installation of the equipment is expected to begin later this year. Menino was joined at the formal ceremony at Quincy Market by Reeve, City officials, representatives of the companies working on both projects, community representatives from the Grove Hall Dudley Square areas, and students from TechBoston Academy and the Trotter Elementary School in Grove Hall. Among the Grove Hall area community members leaders who joined Mayor Menino were Reverend Greg Groover from Charles AME Church; Darnell William, from the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts; Sister Virginia Morrison, Executive Director of the Grove Hall Neighborhood Development Corporation; Jeanne Pinado, Executive Director of Madison Park Development Corporation; Frederica Williams, Executive Director of the Whittier Health Center; Jeanne DuBois, Executive Director of the Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation; Jose Duran, Executive Director of the Hispanic Office for Planning and Evaluation (HOPE); Ricardo Neal, Executive Director of Freedom House; Claudia Smith-Reid, Executive Director of the Roxbury Multi Service Center; Vanessa Calderon, Executive Director of Inquilinos Boriquas en Accion (IBA); and Curtis Henderson, President of the Timothy Smith Network. For more information about Boston’s Wireless Initiative, visit www.cityofboston.gov/wireless. Contact: Mayor’s Press Office, 617-635-4461