Marconi to Use Airspan's WiMAX Products for the Largest Ever Public Trial of WiMAX; Marconi and Airspan Networks Launch Three WiMAX Trials in Italy

Working in partnership with Airspan Networks Inc. (NASDAQ:AIRN),Marconi will deploy Airspan's AS.MAX family of WiMAX broadbandwireless access products. The AS.MAX product family is IEEE802.16-2004 compliant and, thanks to its Software Defined Radio (SDR)technology, it can be upgraded to be IEEE 802.16e compliant, toinclude Spatial Division Multiple Access advanced services.

Marconi was selected for the trials by the working party due toits ability to provide indoor self-installable and outdoor customerpremise terminals, which work in line-of-sight and non-line-of-sightenvironments, allowing the AS.MAX product family to operate in urban,suburban and rural areas. The success of the trials will underline theeffectiveness of WiMAX and provide a scalable, customisable andcompetitive Wireless Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line networkallowing operators to bridge the digital divide in a number of Italianregions.

"This trial is an exciting development for the broadband wirelessaccess market in Europe. Marconi's involvement in the first everpublic trials highlights our unique capability and expertise inimplementing multiservice wireless networks," said Giorgio Bertolina,managing director of Southern Europe and Central & Latin America forMarconi. "The trial will ensure that, in the future, economicbroadband wireless connectivity is made available for every residentand business in diverse geographical areas of Italy."

"The progress made in Italy towards embracing the benefits of theWiMAX technology has been very impressive. We believe that WiMAX willbring the customers in Italy more choice and more flexible broadbandaccess. We are were pleased with the progress we have made withMarconi as our partners and look forward to serving the Italiancommunity with our technology," said Mahir Ozdamar, Airspan's VicePresident Business Development.

The Airspan AS.MAX product family has been submitted for theinitial phase of the WiMAX compatibility certification trials that arecurrently being carried out at CETECOM(TM), the official certificationlaboratory of WiMAX Forum(TM), located in Malaga, Spain.

About Airspan Networks

Airspan Networks provides fixed and wireless voice and datasystems and solutions, including Voice Over IP (VoIP). Its wirelessproducts serve operators around the world in both licensed andunlicensed frequency bands between 700 MHz and 6 GHz, including bothPCS and 3.5GHz international bands. Airspan has a strong wirelessproduct roadmap that includes offerings compliant with the new WiMAX802.16-2004 standard, and software upgradeability to 802.16e from thetime the WiMAX products are introduced. Airspan is on the Board and afounder member of the WiMAX Forum. The Company has deployments withmore than 300 operators in more than 100 countries. Airspan's wirelesssystems are based on radio technology that delivers excellent areacoverage, high security and resistance to fading. These systems can bedeployed rapidly and cost effectively, providing an attractivealternative to traditional wired communications networks. Airspan'snew i-Tone VoIP system is a carrier class, turnkey solution thatprovides carriers with Class 4, Class 5 and IP-Centrex solutions andhas a softswitch and gateways supporting H323, SIP and MGCP. i-Tone'sdesign provides customers; carriers, next-generation telcos, cellularproviders and ITSP with a wide range of solutions with the bestprice/performance system for IP telephony. Airspan also offers radioplanning, network installation, integration, training and supportservices to facilitate the deployment and operation of its systems.Airspan is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida with its mainoperations center in Uxbridge, United Kingdom.

More information on Airspan can be found at http://www.airspan.com

About Marconi Corporation plc

Marconi Corporation plc is a global telecommunications equipment,services and solutions company. The company's core business is theprovision of innovative and reliable optical networks, broadbandrouting and switching and broadband access technologies and services.The company's customer base includes many of the world's largesttelecommunications operators.

The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange under thesymbol MONI and on Nasdaq under the ticker MRCIY. Additionalinformation about Marconi Corporation can be found at http://www.marconi.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within themeaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21Eof the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements, other thanstatements of historical facts, including statements regarding thestrategy, future operations, financial position, future revenues,projected costs, prospects, plans and objectives of Airspan and itsmanagement, may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. The words"anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "may,""plans," "projects," "will," "would" and similar expressions ornegative variations thereof are intended to identify forward-lookingstatements, although not all forward-looking statements contain theseidentifying words. Airspan may not actually achieve the plans,intentions or expectations disclosed in their forward-lookingstatements and readers should not place undue reliance on theseforward-looking statements. Airspan is also subject to the risks anduncertainties described in its filings with the Securities andExchange Commission, including Airspan's Annual Report on Form 10-K/Afor the year ended December 31, 2004. You should read those factors asbeing applicable to all related forward-looking statements whereverthey appear in this press release. Airspan does not assume anyobligation to update any forward-looking statements.