Airvana Identifies 8X Network Load Multiplier Effect for Smartphones

Company's Research Quantifies Hidden Impact of Smartphone Use on Mobile
Broadband Resources

CHELMSFORD, Mass., Oct. 14 ,/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Airvana, Inc. (Nasdaq:
AIRV), the company transforming the mobile experience, has identified a
significant mobile network "load multiplier effect" caused by smartphone data
traffic on the macro-cellular network. Airvana engineers comparing data use
profiles found that for a given volume of data transmitted, one smartphone
typically generates eight times the network signaling load of a USB
modem-equipped laptop. Although smartphones may only account for a minority
percentage of all devices on operator networks today, they are always on,
moving between cell sites and continually 'polling' the network. As a result,
smartphones are already responsible for the majority -- two to three times as
much as laptops -- of the total signaling activity.

For operators already concerned by the volume of data traffic generated by
laptop users, this signaling load multiplier effect from smartphones
highlights the urgent need for improved and alternative mobile data processing
and off-load strategies. The "surge in wireless data and looming spectrum
crisis" happening across the industry was highlighted last week by the head of
the FCC in the U.S., Janus Genachowski speaking at the CTIA show in San Diego.
Mr. Genachowski identified a 10-fold gap in data demanded vs. spectrum
available in the foreseeable future and went on to say, "the needed bandwidth
must come from multiple places, including promising new technologies like
smart antennas and femtocells."

Global annual shipments of smartphone handsets are projected to increase from
nearly 200 million in 2009 to 450 million in 2013, according to market
research firm iSuppli Corp. In the U.S., AT&T recently reported that
smartphone penetration in their postpaid subscriber base has doubled to 36
percent and Verizon reported that 40 percent of their handsets sold in Q2 2009
were smartphones. Similarly in Western Europe, industry analyst IDC recently
reported 25 percent growth in sales of smartphones in Q2 2009 compared to Q2
2008. As smartphones also continue to grow in functionality and performance,
coupled with growing acceptance of unlimited data plans, data usage on
smartphones is poised to grow even faster than today's rates. Such rapid
growth, combined with the load multiplier effect, highlights the real
potential for significant strain on networks as the mobile broadband market
moves from the portability of laptops to the true mobility of smartphones.

"Conventional wisdom has been that data traffic produced by laptops equipped
with mobile broadband was the culprit when looking at the impact on the
network," said David Nowicki, vice president, Marketing and Product
Management, Airvana. "The industry is just now beginning to understand the
real impact of smartphones on network performance and we're finding that their
effect is distinctly out of proportion to the amount of data they transmit and
receive. It's now estimated that nearly 60 percent of all mobile data traffic
originates indoors -- one of the key reasons that operators are increasingly
introducing femtocell strategies to offload traffic. That approach, together
with our mobile broadband-optimized base station software and advanced, high
performance radio network controllers, provides operators with options for
mitigating the impact of the smartphone load multiplier."

Notes to editors:
Background to Network Load Multiplier Effect research
Airvana has monitored the capacity load on macro-cellular mobile broadband
infrastructure deployed widely around the world since 2003. Until recently,
the focus of the analysis has been on the amount of data throughput generated
on a network basis. However, over the past couple of years as smartphones have
grown in popularity, it has become increasingly important to also closely
monitor the explosion in signaling traffic to better design solutions to help
resolve capacity bottlenecks. Signaling refers to the messaging "overhead"
involved with initiating and terminating network connections, and maintaining
connections as users move between cells. Signaling typically contains
relatively few "bits", but it can strain network resources due to the need for
network elements such as base stations and radio network controllers to
process a very large number of these short control messages.

How is the 8x network load multiplier calculated? While a smartphone user
downloads a fraction (typically 1/25(th)) of the data consumed by a laptop
user, the signaling load produced by the smartphone user is much higher and in
fact one third of the laptop user on average. In other words, while it takes
25 smart phones to equal the data throughput from one laptop, it only takes
three smart phones to equal the signaling network impact of one laptop (25/3
is approximately equal to 8x). And since there are many more smartphones than
laptops on the typical network, smart phones now generate in aggregate the
vast majority of signaling traffic. Several factors account for the
signaling-intense nature of smartphone traffic, including (1) the nature of
smartphone applications such as e-mail and other push-based applications to
constantly poll the network for updates; (2) that smartphones are often mobile
during sessions; and (3) that they are nearly always turned on with
applications running, even when they are not being used.

About Airvana
Airvana helps operators transform the mobile experience for users worldwide.
The company's high-performance technology and products, from comprehensive 3G
femtocell solutions based on its HubBub(TM) CDMA and UMTS femtocells, to core
mobile broadband network infrastructure, enable operators to deliver
compelling broadband services to mobile subscribers, wherever they are.
Airvana's products are deployed in 70 commercial networks on six continents.
The company is headquartered in Chelmsford, Mass., USA, with offices
worldwide. For more information, please visit www.airvana.com.

Safe Harbor Statement
Any statements in this press release about future expectations, plans and
prospects for Airvana constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning
of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements
typically contain the words "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects,"
"will," "continue" and similar expressions. Actual results may differ
materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result
of various important factors, including without limitation the highly
competitive and rapidly evolving market in which Airvana competes, Airvana's
limited operating history, the fluctuation of its past operating results and
its reliance on sales through Nortel for a significant portion of its revenues
and product and service billings and other factors discussed in Airvana's
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, the
forward-looking statements included in this press release represent Airvana's
views as of the date of this press release. Airvana anticipates that
subsequent events and developments may cause its views to change. While
Airvana may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in
the future, it specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These
forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Airvana's
views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

Media Contacts
Robert Morton
Davies Murphy Group
+1 (781) 418-2400
airvana@daviesmurphy.com

Matt Humphries
Babel PR
+44 (0)20 7434 5550
airvana@babelpr.com

SOURCE Airvana, Inc.

Robert Morton of Davies Murphy Group for Airvana, Inc., +1-781-418-2400,
airvana@daviesmurphy.com; or Matt Humphries of Babel PR for Airvana, Inc., +44
(0)20-7434-5550, airvana@babelpr.com