Iridium Signs New Value-Added Partners for Satellite Mobile Data Products
Alliances Expected to Drive Market Growth in Broad-Based Government, Industrial and Consumer Sectors
Iridium Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:IRDM) announces that it has signed agreements with five new value-added partners to market Iridium-based data solutions for the mobile machine-to-machine (M2M) sector. These new partnerships, including the company’s first-ever consumer Iridium short-burst data (SBD) relationships, open up numerous customer opportunities.
“Alliances with well-established, world-class partners will spearhead our growth, and solidify our market leadership, in transportation, industrial, security, consumer and other higher-volume sectors,” said Greg Ewert, executive vice president, global distribution channels, Iridium. “The companies will leverage Iridium’s global, low-latency, two-way satellite data links and our next-generation Iridium 9602 SBD transceiver to create innovative, low-cost M2M solutions for broad-based government, commercial and consumer markets.”
The new partners are:
* ACR Electronics (www.acrelectronics.com), a subsidiary of Cobham plc, manufactures safety and survival products for marine, aviation and military markets. As an Iridium Value Added Reseller (VAR), ACR is extending its range of renowned emergency distress alerting beacons to include true global two-way text messaging and tracking capabilities. The company will be offering its innovative TXT-100 device together with a range of airtime contracts through its extensive global distribution network.
* DeLorme (www.delorme.com) is the longtime leader in breakthrough mapping and GPS solutions for both consumer and professional markets, and creator of the Earthmate GPS receiver. The company’s business and government solutions include a variety of World and North America mapping datasets — owned and produced by DeLorme — as well as flexible XMap GIS software tools.
* Digi International (www.digi.com) is a leading developer of wireless M2M solutions. From satellite to ZigBee, its wireless products connect devices in telematics, fleet management, industrial, government, Smart Energy and numerous other applications. Digi also offers the iDigi(R) cloud Web-hosted service, which makes it easy to integrate devices into a company’s back-end systems.
* KORE Telematics KORE Telematics (www.koretelematics.com), the world’s largest global communications services provider with 100% focus in M2M communications, is partnering with Iridium to integrate satellite connectivity into its market-leading PRiSMPro platform, delivering this expanded services capability to its partners across the globe. Satellite connectivity is a natural complement to the extensive KORE cellular deliveries which, in partnership with leading worldwide carriers, include both CDMA and GSM technologies. With Iridium, KORE now provides truly global coverage for applications in supply chain management, logistics, industrial monitoring and multiple other industries.
* Xact Technology LLC (www.xactcommunication.com) is a leading solutions provider for the GPS tracking, Location-Based Services (LBS) and M2M industries. Xact’s open architecture platform (hardware, software, data networks and user-interface portals) offers end-to-end solutions in less time and with lower cost.
“With these partnerships, Iridium is aligning itself with best-of-breed companies that are the clear market leaders in remote tracking, monitoring and control applications,” said Patrick Shay, vice president of data services, Iridium. “These are industry-leading M2M companies with the expertise, customer relationships and market clout that will further accelerate market growth for Iridium’s satellite data business.”
Tim Farrar, president of TMF Associates, commented, “Iridium’s new low-cost SBD transceiver and partnerships with established world-class players in the mobile data industry will further accelerate Iridium’s already rapid growth in the M2M sector. We believe the company is well positioned to capture a significant share of the market for low-data-rate mobile satellite devices, which is projected to grow by more than 20 percent annually to more than 3.4 million units in service by the end of 2014.”
Iridium is announcing these new agreements this week at its 2011 Partners Conference in New Orleans, where more than 400 representatives from 150 partner companies around the globe are in attendance.
About Iridium Communications Inc.
Iridium Communications Inc. (www.iridium.com) is the only mobile satellite service (MSS) company offering coverage over the entire globe. The Iridium constellation of low-Earth orbiting (LEO) cross-linked satellites provides critical voice and data services for areas not served by terrestrial communication networks. Iridium serves commercial markets through a worldwide network of distributors, and provides services to the U.S. Department of Defense and other U.S. and international government agencies. The company’s customers represent a broad spectrum of industry, including maritime, aeronautical, government/defense, public safety, utilities, oil/gas, mining, forestry, heavy equipment and transportation. Iridium has launched a major development program for its next-generation satellite constellation, Iridium NEXT. The company is headquartered in McLean, Va., U.S.A. and trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbols IRDM (common stock), IRDMW ($7.00 warrants), IRDMZ ($11.50 warrants) and IRDMU (units).
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release that are not purely historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding anticipated market growth. Other forward-looking statements can be identified by the words “anticipates,” “may,” “can,” “believes,” “expects,” “projects,” “intends,” “likely,” “will,” “to be” and other expressions that are predictions or indicate future events, trends or prospects. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Iridium to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, uncertainties regarding increases in customer demand for our products and services, growth in subscribers and revenue, Iridium’s ability to maintain the health, capacity and content of its satellite constellation, as well as general industry and economic conditions, and competitive, legal, governmental and technological factors. Other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements include those factors listed under the caption “Risk Factors” in the company’s Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2010 and filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 9, 2010. There is no assurance that Iridium’s expectations will be realized. If one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if Iridium’s underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those expected, estimated or projected. Iridium’s forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and Iridium undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements.
CONTACT: Liz DeCastro
Iridium Communications Inc.
+1 (703) 287-7421
liz.decastro@iridium.com
Jim Rhodes
Rhodes Communications
+1 (757) 451-0602
jrhodes@rhodescomm.com
