MetaLink’s WLANPlus wins Wi-Fi Alliance certification

The company has appointed Armando Geday to chair a new advisory board.

Metalink Ltd. (Nasdaq: MTLK;TASE: MTLK) has been awarded Wi-Fi Alliance certification for the company WLANPlus chipset, specifically Wi-Fi Certified 802.11n draft 2.0 Certification. The Certification was awarded after WLANPlus successfully passed the Wi-Fi Alliance's qualification tests, ensuring that it is fully compliant with IEEE 802.11n draft 2.0 specifications.

MetaLink is one of the first companies to obtain Wi-Fi Alliance certification for a product.

The WLANPlus chipset family provides video-grade requirements for wireless home networks, supporting up to 300 Megabits per second (Mbps) transmission speeds at both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency bands. WLANPlus can operate data, VoIP, gaming and HD video streaming applications.

MetaLink VP WLAN marketing Barry Volinskey said, “This is the real opening shot for the market. The 802.11n standard will probably be set next year. The Wi-Fi Alliance certification marks the de facto launch of the market. A communications market without a standard tends to fall flat, but mass market begins with a certification.”

In other words, consumers buying a product with a certified standard know that the product will communicate with other certified devices. Volinskey added, “In contrast to other players in the market, we didn’t first sell products with the earlier Wi-Fi standard. While other players were expected to obtain certification, there was always concern that MetaLink might not succeed. This cloud has now been lifted.”

MetaLink provides no guidance, and did not change this policy after obtaining the Wi-Fi Alliance certification. Volanskey said, “We expect to begin sales during the fourth quarter of this year, or maybe a little sooner. We expect the breakthrough next year.

MetaLink lost $4.9 million on $2.3 million revenue for the first quarter.

MetaLink has also created a strategic advisory board to complement its executive team. Former CEO of Conexant Systems and Globespan Semiconductor, Armando Geday, is chairman of the advisory board with the mandate of providing experienced counsel regarding the formulation and execution of its business strategies.

Volinskey said, “Gaday has experience that MetaLink’s management lacks. He has already taken a small company and turned it into a large one. We wanted a group of experienced advisors who could work with us on a day-to-day basis. Geday will run the process and bring in more people with a similar profile.”

Geday said, "I'm very happy to be working with Metalink's world class management team. I have been following the company for many years, and believe that it is uniquely positioned, as a pioneer of 802.11n silicon solutions for wireless home networking, to capitalize on the market transition from the 802.11a/b/g to 802.11n. This is a huge market with promising growth potential, and Metalink is at the point where it can become one of the major suppliers of 802.11n chipsets."

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on July 3, 2007

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2007

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