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MultiFon Signs Contract With UTStarcom to Expand iPAS Network in Honduras

ALAMEDA, Calif., Dec. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- UTStarcom, Inc.
(Nasdaq: UTSI), a global leader in IP-based, end-to-end networking solutions
and services, today announced a contract with MultiFon, the first private
telephone company in Honduras, to expand the operator's IP-based Personal
Access System (iPAS(TM)) networks in Honduras. MultiFon operates the second
largest fixed-line telephone network in all of Honduras.

MultiFon Signs Contract With UTStarcom to Expand iPAS Network in Honduras
MultiFon Signs Contract With UTStarcom to Expand iPAS Network in Honduras

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'The ability to quickly and easily deploy fixed wireless services was the
key for choosing UTStarcom's iPAS technology for MultiFon', said
Jose Luis
Rivera
, executive director of MultiFon. 'Less than 10 percent of the nearly
seven million people in Honduras have a viable means of communication, making
it one of the least developed telecommunication markets in Latin America.
UTStarcom's iPAS solution has allowed us to offer cost-effective voice
services to users that have been waiting for years to have basic telephone
services.'

MultiFon, a local subsidiary of MultiData Group, launched its iPAS
wireless telephone network in June 2004 with a 50,000-subscriber network
capacity. The network expansion aims at covering seven of the largest cities
in Honduras with the goal of achieving an installed base of 92,000 subscribers
in the country.

'UTStarcom has built its success by offering technologies that bring
higher value to emerging telecommunications markets and through customizing
the applications according to the specific need of its clients. With a
scalable IP-based technology, UTStarcom satisfied Honduras' demand for a
simple and cost-effective solution while maintaining the ability to add new
subscribers as the user base of MultiFon grows,' said
Julio Larios, general
manager of UTStarcom Honduras. 'The MultiFon network was the first of 19
private companies that were created based on the 'Telephony for All'
initiative and is the leader in offering fast, cost-effective access to
fixed-wireless services that consumers in Honduras can trust.'

'Telephony for All, Modernization for Honduras'

The 'Telephony for All' program was introduced by the Honduran government
in September 2003 and plans to provide basic, fixed telephony services to all
regions in Honduras, a country with the second lowest fixed-line penetration
in Latin America. The program is designed to bring modernization and a
competitive spirit to the telecommunications industry, decrease current fares,
create millions of new jobs in the country, and enable companies to install at
least 300,000 fixed telephone lines -- a number still below Honduras' current
unmet demand. In addition, the program will represent an income of
approximately $300 million for HONDUTEL, the national telecommunications
provider.

About MultiFon

MULTIFON, a subsidiary of The MultiData Group, was specifically created to
provide fixed telephony services to the business and residential sectors under
the project 'Telephony For All,' which was announced and supported by the
government of
President Ricardo Maduro. Being the first and leading provider
of telecommunication services in Honduras, MultiFon has the support of a group
of companies with the highest level of experience in the telecommunications
industry of Honduras.

MULTIDATA S.A. is the leading private provider of data transmission and
broadband services in Honduras. Created by a group of executives from top
media venues and three of the largest banks in the country, MultiData has
operations in 15 cities in Honduras and access to more than 200 countries
around the world, through the largest international data transmission
providers.

With the largest market share in Honduras, MULTIDATA uses its own
network -- fiber optic, ADSL copper networks, microwave links, and
last-generation wireless distribution systems -- to provide its services. Its
solutions have extended to more than 85 percent of the financial sector, as
well as more than 60 percent of manufacturing companies in Honduras and other
top companies in various production sectors. In 2002, the company became the
first one in the country to simultaneously connect to submarine cables MAYA I
and ARCOS I for Internet access and IPL services. Currently, MultiData is the
largest capacity provider in the country.

About UTStarcom, Inc.

UTStarcom is a global leader in IP-based, end-to-end networking solutions
and international service and support. The company sells its broadband,
wireless, and handset solutions to operators in both emerging and established
telecommunications markets around the world. UTStarcom enables its customers
to rapidly deploy revenue-generating access services using their existing
infrastructure, while providing a migration path to cost-efficient, end-to-end
IP networks. Founded in 1991 and headquartered in Alameda, California, the
company has research and design operations in the United States, China, Korea
and India. UTStarcom is a FORTUNE 1000 company.

For more information about UTStarcom, visit the company's Web site at
www.utstar.com .

Forward-Looking Statements

This release includes forward-looking statements, including the foregoing
statements regarding the anticipated ability of the iPAS technology to deploy
fixed wireless services quickly and easily, the anticipated expansion of the
iPAS network to cover seven largest cities in Honduras, the goal of expanding
the iPAS network to achieve an installed base of 92,000 subscribers in
Honduras, the anticipated growth of MultiFon's user base resulting in the
increase of new subscribers to the iPAS network in Honduras, the expectation
that the 'Telephony for All' program may provide basic telephony services to
all regions in Honduras, and the anticipated impact of the 'Telephony for All'
program on the telecommunications industry in Honduras. These risk factors
include rapidly changing technology, the changing nature of global
telecommunications markets, both in Honduras and globally, the termination of
significant contracts and strategic relationships, the direction and results
of future research and development efforts, evolving product and applications
standards, reduction or delays in system deployments, product transitions,
changes in demand for and acceptance of UTStarcom's products, general adverse
economic conditions, and trends and uncertainties such as changes in
government regulation and licensing requirements, both in Honduras and
globally. UTStarcom also refers readers to the risk factors identified in its
latest Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current
Reports on Form 8-K, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOURCE UTStarcom, Inc.