(CALGARY, Canada - September 27, 2001) - Wi-LAN Inc. (TSE:WIN), an innovator of high-speed wireless data/Internet communications, today announced that the company’s products are being used to demonstrate community access applications, including tele-medicine, at the international Wireless Vision Congress, an event showcasing the impact of wireless technology on health care, education and the economy in both urban and rural environments. This event, which is being webcast from www.wirelessvision.nf.ca using Wi-LAN equipment, commemorates the 100th anniversary of Guglielmo Marconi receiving the first transatlantic wireless signal in St. John’s, Newfoundland, in 1901.

The tele-medicine demonstration, performed for a number of government and telecommunications officials, had a doctor in Newfoundland remotely diagnose a patient in Labrador, showing how wireless technology can be instrumental in connecting communities and reaching remote rural environments.

Three Wi-LAN AWE 45-24 advanced wireless Ethernet bridges were used to connect video conferencing equipment at the conference hall to an Internet service provider, where the data was then transmitted to Labrador via satellite link. This wireless connection was designed by Wayne Squires of Electronic Centre Ltd., a Wi-LAN Value Added Reseller, in conjunction with Industry Canada and Memorial University’s Tetra (Telehealth and Educational Technology Resources Agency).

"One of Tetra's mandates, through Memorial University, is to provide community-based services in the health and education sector," said Mike Mooney, the Associate Director of Tetra. "Wi-LAN is the technology of choice for Tetra because they offer us the flexibility to connect communities where we are unable to provide high-speed Internet access or video conferencing through traditional telecommunications links."

Tetra has been using Wi-LAN’s advanced wireless Ethernet bridges in their community access applications since 1999.

Wi-LAN has vast experience in community access applications around the world. Examples of Wi-LAN’s community access networks can be seen in cities across Canada and the U.S., including such areas as Vancouver, B.C.; Midland, Ontario; Jackson County, Michigan; and Stroud, Oklahoma.

"Wi-LAN has significant experience in connecting communities," said Dr. Hatim Zaghloul, President, Chairman, and CEO of Wi-LAN. "With the growing requirement for high-speed Internet access in rural communities, and the low cost of wireless deployment compared to fibre and copper, networking a community through wireless technology can be done easily and cost-effectively."

Wi-LAN’s AWE 45-24 advanced wireless Ethernet bridges are also being used to webcast the daily events at the Wireless Vision Congress to the Internet. Visit the Wireless Vision Congress site at www.wirelessvision.nf.ca before September 28 to watch the live webcast, and to learn more about the 100th anniversary of Marconi’s transatlantic wireless transmission.