(CALGARY, Canada - October 25, 2001) - Wi-LAN Inc. (TSE: WIN), an innovator of high-speed wireless data and Internet communications, today announced Henry A. (Hank) Macchio has been appointed Chief Sales and Marketing Officer effective November 1, 2001. The executive team recognized that efficiencies and economies could be realized by combining the separate sales organizations of Wi-LAN and its subsidiaries. By mutual agreement, Graham Smith has stepped down as Wi-LAN’s Chief Sales and Marketing Officer to facilitate the transition to a single sales organization. Mr. Macchio has been with Wi-LAN Technologies (formerly UC Wireless) since 1998 and is the current President of this Wi-LAN subsidiary in Santa Barbara, California.
"Graham Smith has built a strong direct sales force, grown our distribution channels and has initiated and completed OEM agreements to establish a solid sales strategy that will serve us well going forward," said Dr. Zaghloul. "We thank Graham for his many significant contributions and look forward to applying Hank Macchio's marketing savvy and wireless technology experience, which he has demonstrated at Wi-LAN Technologies, to our corporate sales effort."
Mr. Macchio joined UC Wireless (now Wi-LAN Technologies) in 1998 as President and CEO and participated in the sale of this privately held company to Wi-LAN Inc. in April 2001. He has extensive experience in domestic and international telecommunications. Prior to joining UC Wireless, Mr. Macchio was Vice President and General Manager of the ComStream satellite networks division in San Diego, with major international business in China, Thailand, Indonesia, Mexico and Brazil. Prior to Comstream, Mr. Macchio gained small cap experience as General Manager of a start-up company developing wristwatch pagers jointly with SEIKO, and as a senior executive in a start-up venture in fiber optics. Mr. Macchio also has large cap experience as Vice President Engineering at Hughes Network Systems and as Vice President Marketing at ITT. He has served as General Chairman of the 1994 IEEE International Conference on Universal Personal Communications and as a Charter Member of the Board of Directors of the University of California San Diego [UCSD] Center for Wireless Communications Research. Mr. Macchio has Bachelor and Masters Degrees in Electronics Engineering from Manhattan College and New York University, and has completed extensive pre-Doctoral work in Operations Research, also at New York University.
About Wi-LAN Inc.
Wi-LAN is a global innovator in the field of high-speed wireless data communications, specializing in high-speed Internet access, LAN/WAN extension and broadband wireless access. Wi-LAN is the Chair Company of the OFDM Forum (www.ofdm-forum.com). Wi-LAN believes its W-OFDM patent is necessary for the implementation of devices using the IEEE 802.11a or ETSI BRAN HiperLAN/2 standards. Wi-LAN's products have been sold in more than 50 countries on six continents. Wi-LAN's common shares trade on The Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "WIN." Detailed information on Wi-LAN can be found at www.wi-lan.com.