Agreements Enable Wi-LAN to Produce and License Semiconductor IP Cores for IEEE WirelessMAN Standard System-on-Chips

CALGARY, Canada - October 1, 2003 - Wi-LAN Inc. (TSX: WIN), a global provider of broadband wireless communications products and technologies, announced today it has agreed to co-develop semiconductor intellectual property (SIP) cores for IEEE WirelessMAN* Standard broadband wireless systems-on-chips (SoCs) with a leading SIP provider.

"These agreements are intended to allow us to accelerate the development work for our WirelessMAN Standard SoC’s and broadband wireless systems and to broaden the market for our intellectual property," said Dr. Sayed-Amr El-Hamamsy, Wi-LAN’s president and chief operating officer. "We intend to develop SIP cores, based on our patented W-OFDM technology, incorporating the physical layer of the WirelessMAN standard. Wi-LAN expects to license the SIP cores to semiconductor companies, and to incorporate resulting SoC’s into our LIBRA products to produce the first WirelessMAN compliant systems. This is a key component in our ongoing strategy of licensing our intellectual property, developing the first WirelessMAN Standard system and reducing the cost of our broadband wireless products."

Wi-LAN and the SIP provider have entered into two agreements: a consulting agreement and a licensing agreement. The combined agreements require periodic payments from Wi-LAN to the SIP supplier of approximately $0.8 million in total over the initial eight-month period, as well as warrants for Wi-LAN common shares with a total strike price of $75,000 (subject to regulatory approvals). Also, the SIP supplier will be entitled to a portion of all future related SIP Core license fees collected by Wi-LAN.

WirelessMAN’s wireless metropolitan area network technology will connect 802.11 hot spots to the Internet, provide a wireless extension to cable and DSL for last mile broadband access, provide an inexpensive infrastructure for internet protocol based telephony systems and provide backhaul for cellular base stations. It provides up to 50-kilometers of range and allows users to receive broadband connectivity without requiring a direct line of sight with the base station. The wireless broadband technology also provides shared data rates up to 70 Mbps, which is enough bandwidth to simultaneously support more than 60 businesses with T1-type connectivity and hundreds of homes with DSL-type connectivity with a single base station.

Wi-LAN is a member of the WiMAXTM Forum, a non-profit corporation formed to help promote and certify the compatibility and interoperability of broadband wireless access (BWA) equipment. Other WiMAX Forum members include Fujitsu, Intel, Nokia and other BWA equipment providers. The group’s efforts will help accelerate the introduction of WirelessMAN Standard wireless broadband equipment into the marketplace, speeding up last-mile broadband deployment worldwide.

Comparison of IEEE WirelessMAN Standard to other OFDM based standards

The IEEE Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks (WirelessMAN) Standard, announced on January 30, 2003, defines a standard for BWA systems operating in radio frequencies from 2 to 11 GHz. The emerging European equivalent to the WirelessMAN Standard, the ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) HiperMAN standard, will incorporate the same OFDM technology used in WirelessMAN, making OFDM the worldwide standard for BWA systems.

* Under development

The W-OFDM Advantage

Wi-LAN's patented Wide-Band Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (W-OFDM) technology is a variation of OFDM that further improves its characteristics. The signal reception is corrected for distortions, allowing greater transmission speeds, and the signal is processed to maximize the range and multipath resistance. W-OFDM allows spectrally efficient, non-line-of-sight, point-to-multipoint wireless networks to be implemented while minimizing interference with adjacent networks.

About Wi-LAN Inc.

Wi-LAN is a global provider of broadband wireless communications products and technologies, offering businesses, including telecom service providers, and government enterprises effective, economic and secure wireless high-speed communications solutions. Wi-LAN specializes in high-speed Internet access, data network extension, and wireless data and telephony backhaul, utilizing its high quality products and industry-leading technologies. Wi-LAN believes its W-OFDM patents are necessary for the implementation of devices using the IEEE standards WirelessMAN, 802.11a or 802.11g, the ETSI BRAN HiperLAN/2 standard or the current draft of the proposed ETSI BRAN HiperMAN standard. Wi-LAN licenses its W-OFDM technology and has executed non-exclusive W-OFDM license agreements with semiconductor companies. Wi-LAN is the Chair Company of the OFDM Forum (www.ofdm-forum.com) and an active member of the WiMAX Forum (www.wimaxforum.org). 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.

Forward Looking Information

Certain statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, may include forward-looking information that involves various risks and uncertainties. These may include, without limitation, statements based on current expectations involving a number of risks and uncertainties related to all aspects of the wireless data communications industry. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not restricted to, continued increased demand for the Company's products, the Company's ability to maintain its technological leadership in the field of high-speed data communications, the Company's ability to attract and maintain key employees, the enforceability of the Company's patents, and the availability of key components.
These uncertainties may cause actual results to differ from information contained herein. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. These and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements are based on the estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances or management's estimates or opinions change.

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