EXHIBIT 31.1

SECTION 302 CERTIFICATIONS


                                 CERTIFICATIONS

      Each of the undersigned, in his capacity as the Chief Executive Officer
and Chief Financial Officer of Novatel Wireless Inc., as the case may be,
provides the following certifications required by 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as
adopted pursuant to Section 302 of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and 17 C.F.R.
Section 240.13a-14.

CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

I, Peter Leparulo, certify that:

      1. I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Novatel Wireless
Inc.;

      2. Based on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain any
untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary
to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such
statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this
quarterly report;

      3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this quarterly report, fairly present in all material
respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the
registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this quarterly report;

      4. The registrant's other certifying officers and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in
Exchange Act Rules 13a-14 and 15d-14) for the registrant and have:

      (a)   designed such disclosure controls and procedures to ensure that
            material information relating to the registrant, including its
            consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within
            those entities, particularly during the period in which this
            quarterly report is being prepared;

      (b)   evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls
            and procedures as of a date within 90 days prior to the filing date
            of this quarterly report (the "Evaluation Date"); and

      (c)   presented in this quarterly report our conclusions about the
            effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures based on our
            evaluation as of the Evaluation Date;

      5. The registrant's other certifying officers and I have disclosed, based
on our most recent evaluation, to the registrant's auditors and the audit
committee of registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the
equivalent functions):

      (a)   all significant deficiencies in the design or operation of internal
            controls which could adversely affect the registrant's ability to
            record, process, summarize and report financial data and have
            identified for the registrant's auditors any material weaknesses in
            internal controls; and

      (b)   any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
            other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's
            internal controls; and

      6. The registrant's other certifying officers and I have indicated in this
quarterly report whether or not there were significant changes in internal
controls or in other factors that could significantly affect internal controls
subsequent to the date of our most recent evaluation, including any corrective
actions with regard to significant deficiencies and material weaknesses.

                                               /s/ Peter V. Leparulo
                                          ---------------------------------
                                                 Peter V. Leparulo
                                              Chief Executive Officer
Dated: August 14, 2003



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