Sierra Wireless announced today the addition of the AirCard 555R, a wide area wireless PC Card with Random User Identity Module (RUIM) support to its product line for the China market.

Operating on CDMA 1X networks, the AirCard 555R will provide mobile professionals with wireless data access at speeds up to 153.6 kbps. The AirCard 555R will be distributed by Beijing Putian Taili Telecom, a reseller in China, and product availability is scheduled for the second quarter of 2004. Beijing Putian Taili Telecom will also distribute the Sierra Wireless AirCard 750 GSM/GPRS wide area network PC Card in China.

Putian Taili, headquartered in Beijing, has a nationwide marketing and after sales network in over 100 cities, with 28 branches and 75 district sales offices, specializing in the marketing and service of mobile terminal products. With well-established distribution channels, Beijing Putian Taili will work with wireless network operators in China to distribute the AirCard product line.

About the size of a credit card, the AirCard 555R PC Card, designed specifically for the China market, is a complete communications solution offering both wireless data and voice functionality. The removable RUIM chip offers customers the ability to transfer account information (stored on the RUIM chip) from device to device. When inserted into a PC card slot, the AirCard 555R will allow mobile professionals the ability to work outside the office while using a notebook, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) or other handheld device and receive reliable, high-speed, wireless access to email, data, corporate applications and the Internet.