Aether Completes Successful GPRS Testing of Premier Financial Applications at Ericsson Berkeley Wireless Center

Business Wire, March 20, 2001

Business Editors

OWINGS MILLS, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 20, 2001

Operation of PocketBroker(TM)and MarketClip(TM) Over Live GPRS Test

Network Further Enhances Aether's Ability to Deploy Across Next

Generation Wireless Networks

Aether Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: AETH), a leading provider of wireless data products and services, today announced that it has successfully tested its premier real-time wireless financial services applications over Ericsson's live General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) test network.

Aether's ability to operate both PocketBroker(TM), a real-time stock trading and market monitoring service developed with Charles Schwab, and Reuters MarketClip(TM), which provides real-time stock quotes and associated financial information, will allow Aether to structure and adopt its products and services to perform optimally on next generation wireless networks.

GPRS, a next-generation, packet-data service for Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications and IS-136 Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), allows for enhanced level of service due to wide-ranging coverage, high data transfer rates, and prioritized delivery.

Combined with the always-on, always-connected mode of operation, GPRS allows for pervasive deployment of advanced wireless data applications demonstrating robust feature sets.

Connected to the GPRS test network via an Infrared (IR) interface to the Ericsson R520m GPRS phone, PocketBroker was tested on a Palm V platform and MarketClip on a Compaq iPAQ.

The Aether-developed applications were tested live as part of Ericsson's Mobile Applications Initiative (MAI) GPRS test network at their Wireless Center in Berkeley, Calif., with data transactions occurring through Aether's Network Operations Center (NOC) in Owings Mills, Md.

MAI's Application's Performance Evaluation tests the performance of mobile Internet applications for next generation wireless networks - offering developers the opportunity to build, assess, and optimize applications for next generation (2.5 & 3G) technologies.

"Successful deployment of PocketBroker, MarketClip, and other Aether applications over the GRPS test network is an essential next step towards providing our products and services on a global scale," said Dale Shelton, Chief Technology Officer, Aether Systems.

"As the mobile workforce expands, so to will the need for more efficient methods of delivering data - support for GPRS shows that we're prepared to offer next generation wireless support to our enterprise customers."

About Aether Systems

Aether Systems, Inc., is a leading provider of wireless and mobile data products and services allowing real-time communications and transactions across a full range of devices and networks.

Using its engineering expertise, the ScoutWare(TM) family of products including the Aether Intelligent Messaging (AIM) software platform, and its network operations center and customer care-center, Aether seeks to provide comprehensive, technology-independent wireless and mobile computing solutions.

Aether develops and delivers wireless data services across a variety of industries and market segments in the United States and internationally. For more information, please visit www.aethersystems.com.