Los Angeles, September 15, 2006 – Option N.V. (Euronext: OPTI; OTC: OPNVY), the wireless technology company, congratulates HSBC and Vodafone for winning the 2006 3G A-List Award in the category of UMTS/HSDPA. Now in its fourth year, the QUALCOMM-sponsored awards program is designed to recognize innovative and successful enterprise wireless data solutions based on third-generation (3G) standards. During CTIA Wireless I.T & Entertainment 2006 in Los Angeles, HSBC, one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organizations, was honoured with the 3G A-List Award in the UMTS/HSDPA category. HSBC equipped their sales force and corporate users, who were utilising a variety of laptops, with Option wireless broadband data cards running on the Vodafone UMTS/HSDPA network to enable them to connect to the bank systems from anywhere.
London-based HSBC has an international network comprising more than 9,500 offices in 76 countries and territories in virtually every corner of the globe. HSBC has approximately 284,000 employees and more than 125 million customers worldwide.
HSBC’s main objective was to enable its mobile sales force and other corporate users to connect to bank systems from anywhere. The company was looking to untether its mobile sales force and empower them to engage with customers in real time by providing the ability to transmit data from applications on their laptops while they were with the customer. Previously, users either had to dial-in from home or return to a bank branch to connect to the network. This travel time was eating into the time that could be spent servicing customers. The business case for the UMTS/HSDPA implementation was driven by the commercial side of the sales force who greatly desired mobile connectivity.
Half of the 4,000 users equipped in the initiative were retail bank sales staff and the rest were corporate employees. Connectivity was achieved via a Citrix® interface or through an iPass® dialler and Cisco VPN connection. An additional benefit of the UMTS/HSDPA cards, HSBC added, is that IT can update anti-virus signature files over the air, eliminating the need for sales people to visit an office to update their security.
The annual 3G A-List Awards, organised by Qualcomm, honour outstanding wireless implementations that demonstrate creativity, innovation, and overall business impact. Assessment criteria includes how the winning company or organization exceeded business objectives in terms of achieving higher return on investment, lower operating expenses or increased user satisfaction. More information about the 2006 3G A-List Awards honourees and their innovative solutions can be found at http://www.3galist.com/winners.html
About Option:
Option NV (www.option.com), the wireless technology company, is a leading innovator in the design, development and manufacture of 3G WCDMA (HSDPA and UMTS), EDGE, GPRS, GSM and WLAN technology products for wireless connectivity solutions. Option has built up an enviable reputation for creating exciting products that enhance the performance and functionality of wireless communications. Option’s headquarters are in Leuven, Belgium. The company has Research & Development in Leuven, a Software and Applications development centre in Adelsried (Germany), a Wireless Router development centre in Stockholm (Sweden), an ISO 9002 production engineering and logistics facility in Cork, Ireland and sales & support offices in US, Japan and Taiwan.
For more information please contact:
Douglas Ros, Vice President Business Development & Marketing
Tel +32 (0)16 317 411, E-mail: d.ros@option.com
Frederic Convent, CFO
Tel + 32 (0) 16 317 411, E-mail: investor@option.com