Novatel Wireless Honored By Deloitte & Touche Technology Fast 50

SAN DIEGO -- September 24, 2003 -- Novatel Wireless, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVTL), a leading provider of wireless data access solutions, today announced that it is one of the 2003 Deloitte & Touche Technology Fast 50 Program winners for San Diego, a ranking of the 50 fastest growing technology companies in the San Diego area. The Fast 50 is based on the percentage of growth in fiscal year revenues over five years, from 1998-2002.

"To succeed during prosperous times is one thing; to succeed in adversity is much more challenging, and that's exactly what the Deloitte & Touche Technology Fast 50 winners have done," said Helen Adams, partner in the technology, media and telecommunications group, Deloitte and Touche. "We applaud Novatel Wireless for its tremendous accomplishments during economically challenging times and for being one of the elite Fast 50 companies in San Diego."

"Since the inception of the company, our primary objective has been to develop industry leading, innovative wireless data solutions that improve personal and business communications and productivity," said Peter Leparulo, chief executive officer for Novatel Wireless. "We are honored to receive this recognition from Deloitte & Touche. This success was possible because of the hard work and commitment of our employees."

To qualify for the Technology Fast 50, companies must have had operating revenues of at least $50,000 in 1998 and $1,000,000 in 2002, must be public or private companies headquartered in North America, and be a "technology company" defined as owning proprietary technology that contributes to a significant portion of the company's operating revenues (using other companies' technology in a unique way does not qualify); and/or devoting a significant proportion of revenues to research and development of technology. This year's San Diego Technology Fast 50 program was co-presented by Deloitte & Touche, Comerica, Cooley Godward, Fleishman-Hillard, Focus Creative, KPBS, Marsh, R.J. Watkins, T Sector, and in association with AeA and BIOCOM.

Winners of the 20 regional Technology Fast 50 programs in the United States and Canada are automatically entered in the Deloitte & Touche Technology Fast 500 program, which ranks North America's top 500 fastest growing technology companies. For more information on the Deloitte & Touche Fast 50 or Fast 500 programs, visit www.fast500.com.

ABOUT NOVATEL WIRELESS, INC.

Novatel Wireless, Inc. is a leading developer of wireless PC cards, embedded modems, software and custom engineering for use in mobile computing devices. The company delivers innovative solutions to retail, wholesale and vertical markets worldwide enabling access to personal, corporate and public information over GSM, GPRS, CDMA and UMTS networks. Novatel Wireless Merlin^TM PC Card and Expedite^TM Embedded Modems are used in portable computers, handheld devices and vertical market applications. Headquartered in San Diego, California, Novatel Wireless is listed on Nasdaq: NVTL.

About Deloitte & Touche

Deloitte & Touche, one of the nation's leading professional services firms, provides assurance and advisory, tax, and management consulting services through nearly 30,000 people in more than 80 U.S. cities. The firm is dedicated to helping its clients and its people excel. Known as an employer of choice for innovative human resources programs, Deloitte & Touche has been recognized as one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For in America" by Fortune magazine for six consecutive years. Deloitte & Touche refers to Deloitte & Touche LLP and related entities. Deloitte & Touche is the US national practice of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu is a Swiss Verein, and each of its national practices is a separate and independent legal entity. For more information, please visit Deloitte & Touche's web site at www.deloitte.com/us.

^© 2002 Novatel Wireless. All rights reserved. The Novatel Wireless logo, Merlin and Expedite are trademarks of Novatel Wireless, Inc. All other brands, products and company names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective holders.

This release may contain forward-looking statements, which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended to date. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. A number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements contained herein. These factors include risks relating to technological changes, continued acceptance of Novatel Wireless' products and dependence on intellectual property rights. These factors, as well as other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, are discussed in more detail in Novatel Wireless' filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (available at www.sec.gov) and other regulatory agencies.