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Ball State University Deploys Proxim Broadband Wireless Equipment as Backbone for High-Definition Content Network University's Extensive Research Project Links University, Elementary Schools and Residents in Long-Distance Wireless Network to Enable New Applications SUNNYVALE, Calif., Feb. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Proxim Corporation (NASDAQ:PROX), a global leader in wireless networking equipment for Wi-Fi and broadband wireless networks, today announced that its Tsunami Broadband Wireless Access Systems and Tsunami point-to-point products have been deployed in an innovative wireless network that is the foundation of Ball State University's research project to determine the impact of high-definition content delivery on education and home life. As part of its commitment to playing a leadership role in developing new, high-definition media content, the university initiated the research project to discover how students, teachers and households in Middle America use and interact with high-definition content and how this impacts social activity and learning. In the process, the university expects to gain expertise in long-distance wireless networks, which it believes are essential to the successful delivery of high-definition content. Dubbed Digital Middletown, the project builds on the groundbreaking sociological research of the 1920s and '30s by Robert and Helen Lynd, which led to Muncie, Indiana, home of Ball State, being identified as a typical American town or "Middletown, U.S.A." Since the Lynds' original research, Muncie has been one of the most studied cities in the United States. The innovative network for the project was deployed by local wireless integrator, Wireless Information Networks, Inc. (WIN), in three stages. The first stage, a test base, provided the homes of selected individuals with wireless connectivity to the university via Proxim's Tsunami point-to-multipoint Broadband Wireless Access Systems and point-to-point wireless Ethernet bridges. As a result, these individuals gained real-time access to the Internet and university resources, and they experienced high-bandwidth access comparable to that on campus. The second stage connected two local schools, Cowan and Mitchell Elementary Schools, to the University using a Proxim Tsunami 100 Wireless Ethernet Bridge and Proxim Tsunami QuickBridge at a distance of seven miles. With assistance from Gateway, Ball State provided each school with notebook computers, plasma screens and videoconferencing equipment, as well as wireless printers, speakers and access points. The schools also have access to high-definition content, including 26,000 video clips owned by Discovery Channel affiliate, United Streaming, and media files from the Public Broadcasting System. The Tsunami network provided the necessary bandwidth to support the incorporation of the new high-definition content and the use of notebook computers by students and teachers into the everyday curriculum. Today, students and teachers have access to the Internet, e-mail and highly advanced learning applications. These applications include videoconferencing with experts around the country and conducting virtual field trips. For the third stage which is currently in progress, Ball State is delivering the same wireless connectivity and content to 300 homes neighboring the Mitchell school to further test the use of high-definition content and its impact on users. One of the key objectives for the University's project was to find and deploy the correct infrastructure -- specifically, a long-distance wireless network that could support greater than 20 Mbps over a distance of up to seven miles and could be the foundation for high-definition content such as highly interactive simulations, animations and videoconferencing traffic. Ball State chose a combination of Proxim's Tsunami point-to-multipoint and point-to-point broadband wireless radios. The Proxim solution provided the distance, bandwidth and carrier-class reliability necessary to scale and support multiple sites. In addition, the Proxim Tsunami products gave Ball State the network management functionality needed to deploy the network quickly and efficiently and to reduce ongoing operational costs. "Until now, delivery of high-definition content has been limited by bandwidth availability," said O'Neal Smitherman, Ball State's vice president for information technology. "With long-distance wireless networks, use of this content will quickly become widespread and will have a major impact on both education and social life. We have already seen immediate, tangible benefits in the first two stages of our research and are excited about the prospects for stage three. We are impressed with the Proxim infrastructure's ability to deliver the speed, bandwidth and reliability required to meet our objectives." "It was exciting for Proxim to be involved in a project that has such a significant impact on education and learning," said Jeff Orr, senior product marketing manager for Proxim. "Ball State University has taken a major step in showing how high-definition content, delivered over long-distance wireless networks, can affect the day-to-day activities of students, teachers and administrators. As demand for this kind of content grows and the applications become even more sophisticated and widespread, wireless solutions like Proxim's that can deliver high-bandwidth, carrier-class reliability and connectivity over long distances will become critical." About Proxim Proxim(R) Corporation is a global leader in wireless networking equipment for Wi-Fi and broadband wireless networks. The company provides enterprise and service provider customers with wireless solutions for the mobile enterprise, security and surveillance, last mile access, voice and data backhaul, public hot spots, and metropolitan area networks. Product families include the Award-winning ORiNOCO Wi-Fi products, Tsunami Ethernet bridges, and Lynx point-to-point digital radios. Proxim is a principal member of the WiMAX Forum(TM) and a member of the Wi-Fi(R) Alliance. The company is publicly traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol PROX and is on the Web at http://www.proxim.com/. About Ball State University Ball State University, located in Muncie, Ind., is the third-largest public university in Indiana, with more than 18,000 students. Originally a private teacher training school when it opened in 1899, Ball State became a university in 1965. The 1,035-acre campus in Delaware County is an hour's drive northeast of Indianapolis. Safe Harbor This press release may contain forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from Proxim's expectations in these statements. For additional information regarding risks relating to Proxim's business, see Proxim Corporation's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2003 and Forms 10-Q for quarters ended April 2, 2004, July 2, 2004 and October 1, 2004, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and other relevant materials filed by Proxim with the SEC. Proxim assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements. DATASOURCE: Proxim Corporation CONTACT: Lori S. Hultin of LSH Communications, +1-818-879-4651, or , for Proxim Web site: http://www.proxim.com/

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