PARIS, Jan. 26, 2006 - UTStarcom, Inc. (Nasdaq: UTSI), a global leader in IP-based, end-to-end networking solutions and services, is launching a major initiative to become a leading player in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), starting with a debut and significant presence at next month's 3GSM World Congress and Exhibition 2006 in Barcelona, Spain. The event runs from February 13-16, 2006 at the Fira de Barcelona.

After opening its EMEA headquarters in Paris earlier this year, UTStarcom has strengthened its regional network with offices in nine countries, including Spain, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, Jordan, Israel and South Africa. UTStarcom has also appointed Youssef Kassissia - previously of Nortel Networks, Ericsson, Marconi and Bell Canada - as the company's vice president for EMEA region.

"UTStarcom is a truly global telecommunications player: a Nasdaq-listed North American company with proven success in established telecoms markets worldwide, and one that also benefits from innovative R&D engineering and low-cost manufacturing in Asia," Kassissia said. "We believe that to be successful in EMEA we need to understand our customers' needs, know their specific market challenges and speak their native languages. With this in mind, we have employed local people across the region in sales, engineering and customer support roles to help provide the best possible service to our growing customer base."

At its 3GSM World Congress debut, UTStarcom will display a comprehensive line of end-to-end wireless solutions - from infrastructure equipment at a service provider's central office to end-user devices - at its stand (Booth #G62 in Hall 2) on the show floor. The company will also have live demonstrations of its MovingMedia 2000 all-IP CDMA2000 wireless infrastructure solution; its IP-based Personal Access System (iPAST) solution; its F1000 portable WiFi handset running over its IP-based mSwitchT softswitch platform; and its RollingStream end-to-end Television over IP (TVoIP) solution over its Gigabit Ethernet Passive Optical Network (GEPON) solution.