NEC's Ultra-Compact Microwave Communications System, PASOLINK, Surpasses 1 million Shipments

Tokyo, October 2, 2008 – NEC Corporation announced today that shipments of its ultra-compact microwave communications system, PASOLINK, have surpassed more than 1 million total units. PASOLINK reached 200,000 shipments in 2004, following approximately 20 years of availability, and the system soon eclipsed 500,000 total units in February 2007. Most recently, shipments to mobile telephone carriers in such markets as Asia and the Middle East, where rapid economic expansion has taken place, have contributed significantly to PASOLINK breaking through the 1 million total shipments mark.

Currently, Africa is also a major source of increasing mobile demand, and the transition from 2G to 3G mobile communications is undergoing rapid acceleration. These quickly changing market conditions have led to the development and release of PASOLINK NEO HP, an ideal solution for the construction of high capacity networks.

Initial shipments of the new system have already begun with an order to one of Europe's leading communications carriers.

PASOLINK NEO HP is the latest addition to the PASOLINK NEO series, and boasts Multilevel Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (256QAM) (*1), which more than doubles the machine's transmission capacity when compared to current models (more than 1Gbps capability), in addition to the system's VLAN/Qos/AMR (*2) functionality, and high capacity IP data transmission, which is required for mobile backhaul as well as networks supporting WiMAX and communications between mobile phone base stations and base station control units.

Please see below for more detail on the PASOLINK NEO HP

1.Mobile Backhaul High Capacity IP Data Transmission
 Wider bandwidth transmission and Multilevel Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (256QAM) enable the new system to handle more than twice the transmission capacity (400 Mbps) of the current PASOLINK NEO.
IP Aggregation functions (*3) enable a maximum transmission capacity of more than 1 Gbps.

2.High Performance Ethernet
The GbE interface and VLAN/QoS functions enable high performance/reliable data transmission.
Mobile backhaul is currently undergoing two major transformations. First, the introduction of new technology such as HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) is dramatically increasing data transmission, and secondly, networks are transitioning to IP in order to efficiently process growing volumes of data. PASOLINK enables mobile phone operators that are seeking to optimize the delivery and use of mobile backhaul systems, to efficiently provide consumers with high capacity data services at a lower overall cost.

PASOLINK has become a foundation for backhaul networks that are now essential for successful mobile phone and digital data circuit services. The rapid diffusion of mobile phone services, particularly throughout international markets, has also created greater emphasis on the reliability of connections between base stations and high capacity data circuits.

Since the launch of PASOLINK in the early 1980s, NEC has actively promoted the system's research, development and sales. Following in step with the rapid growth of worldwide mobile markets, PASOLINK has enjoyed increasing sales as a communications system that links the base stations of mobile communications carriers, and has been shipped to customers throughout 136 countries.

It is widely anticipated that demand for PASOLINK's advanced technologies will continue as the need for base station access grows in response to the rapid global growth of mobile phone subscribers, the spread of mobile internet services and the creation of new broadband markets. Accordingly, NEC will continue the proactive development and marketing of these versatile systems, as a business leader among ultra-compact microwave communications innovation.

(*1) 256QAM (Multilevel Quadrature Amplitude Modulation )
The Multilevel Quadrature Amplitude Modulation system can transmit large amounts of information in a single modulation wave. The system used in PASOLINK NEO HP is a 256QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) system which has increased information transmission rates on the same bandwidth by more than 4 times when compared with QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) systems.

(*2) AMR (Adaptive Modulation Radio Functions)
AMR is a technology that improves throughput by automatically changing the modulation method and/or transmission rate in response to radio link quality.

(*3) IP Aggregation
IP aggregation using multiple Ethernet network links in parallel to increase the link transmission capacity beyond the limits of one link. NEO HP can aggregate up to 4 links.