Ruralfone to deploy Altobridge technology to enable profitable rural wireless service in Brazil

Altobridge’s Patent Pending Local Switching Technology bridges Digital Divide

Tralee, Ireland, 19 February, 2007– The company and management team that pioneered GSM in the Aeronautical and Maritime market (www.altobridge.com) today announced that its patent pending Local Community Communications™ architecture has been selected by Ruralfone (www.localtelecom.com.br) to provide profitable wireless service in rural Brazil.

The Altobridge LCC™ has embedded intelligence to enable local mobile-to-mobile and mobile to PSTN switching without requiring the introduction of a Soft Switch or the introduction of a new network supplier. The existing network elements remain the core part of the network and the Altobridge solution seamlessly strips backhaul costs. In many rural communities this can translate to 70% to 90% transmission savings.

Ruralfone CEO, Denis Cotê, said, “Ruralfone set about addressing the rural towns and cities using GSM technology as the chosen platform for Wireless Local Loop fixed telephony service in ARPU-challenged areas. We selected Altobridge’s Local Community Communications technology for one reason, EBITDA. We can increase profit from our existing and planned towns and also introduce the service to a wider number of communities.”

Altobridge General Manager Wireless Solutions, Janne Hazell, said, “We are very pleased that Ruralfone has recognised the unique capabilities of our architecture and its direct impact on the bottom line. After our success in the Aeronautical and Maritime market segments, Altobridge has set in motion a comprehensive R&D initiative to address the requirements of remote terrestrial communications. Our solution is not only vendor-independent, it is - most importantly - operator centric. We remove the traditional barrier of local switching.”

Further information of Altobridge’s Local Community Communications™ is available under NDA.

-ends-


Notes for editors

About Altobridge – www.altobridge.com
Based in Kerry Technology Park, Ireland, Altobridge is a leading provider of personal mobile telecommunications solutions to the maritime and aviation industries. The company’s new groundbreaking architecture can provide standard wireless communications, cost effectively, on board maritime vessels (e.g. super-yachts, merchant vessels) and aircraft. The Altobridge solutions have embedded functionality to support the latest safety and security requirements of these respective industries.
Its core patented AM Gateway Platform™ enables standard, cost-effective wireless service anywhere in the world. The groundbreaking Altobridge architecture enables low-cost wireless communications in the most remote and challenging environments. The solution has been successfully tested and deployed in the aeronautical, maritime, remote terrestrial/community and secure military communications markets.
The Altobridge AM Gateway Platform™ bridges wireless and satellite networks enabling Wireless Service Providers to deliver standard wireless services to remote hotspots of subscribers, removing the legacy costs associated with such backhaul. These remote hotspots could be remote communities in emerging markets, armies in remote bases, emergency personnel in First Responder situations, or passengers’ onboard commercial flights and maritime vessels.
The Altobridge management team has an impressive and proven track record in the development and launch of leading-edge wireless solutions, such as emergency wireless networks for military applications and the world’s first commercial mobile phone solution on cruise ships.

About Ruralfone - www.ruralfone.com or www.localtelecom.com.br
Ruralfone, based in San Antonio, Texas, aims to be the leading provider of basic telephone service to small and medium-sized cities/villages in developing countries. Ruralfone began operations in Northeastern Brazil in May of 2005 under the brand name “LOCAL”. Since then, Ruralfone has proved that it can operate with an EBITDA margin that is twice that of its main competitors while augmenting fixed teledensity by 70% in the areas it serves. Ruralfone operates in a completely decentralised fashion where the vast majority of its employees are located in and from the locations they serve, thereby keeping expenses low and servicing the customer much more effectively.
Rapid expansion in Brazil and internationally is planned for 2007.



For further information, contact:
Altobridge Limited,
Kerry Technology Park,
Tralee,
County Kerry,
Ireland.
Tel: +353 66 7190210
Fax: +353 66 7190022
Email: info@altobridge.com

For Altobridge media and analyst enquiries, contact:
Tim Guest,
Altobridge Corporate Communications.
Mob: +44 7956 257069
E: tguest@altobridge.com

Contact Information

Tim Guest

Corporate Communications

Global Media & Analyst Relations

Contact via E-mail