2015 in Review – Bright Future for WiFi3
January 15, 2016, Ottawa, Canada & San Jose, USA: Edgewater Wireless Systems Inc (YFI; TSX.V), the manufacturer of three-dimensional (3D) WiFi3™ technology for high-density WiFi applications, is pleased to provide an update to investors as the company enters the new year after a momentous 2015.
Looking back at 2015, the company achieved a number of significant milestones and positive developments. Opening the year with a focus on the emerging high-density WiFi market and following with the creation of a three-pillar strategy — high-density WiFi solutions; OEM and Licensing; and Intellectual Property monetization — the company solidified its position as the ‘disruptive innovator’ in WiFi and closed with being named the Financial Posts’ Best of the Best in 2015.
January 2015 – Patent Sale – Edgewater Wireless entered into an agreement with one of the world’s largest tablet and handset makers for the sale of one of Edgewater Wireless’ non-core patents. With strong commercial terms coupled with the rights to use the patent in perpetuity, the deal was a solid validation of the company’s technology position.
February 2015 – IP Monetization – The patent sale created a new pillar for Edgewater Wireless’ business leveraging the company’s extensive patent portfolio and depth of intellectual property to engage with and create licensing partnerships with companies who could benefit from or are currently using components of Edgewater’s proprietary technology. As a result, Edgewater built a new licensing business unit focused on expanding and unlocking value from the company’s extensive patent portfolio.
March 2015 – Technology Launches – Edgewater Wireless continued to focus on disruptive innovation with the announcement of its’ EAP3033 product and the high-density WiFi Development Kit. The EAP3033 is a core product for our high-density wifi solutions business unit targeted for General Availability (GA) in Spring 2016, enables up to six concurrent channels of transmit and receive from a single access point. Additionally, responding to demand from a Fortune 500 Company, the WiFi3 powered Development Kit provides the tools and core elements of WiFi3 technology for manufacturers to incorporate WiFi3 into their products and unlocks the potential for large scale adoption of Edgewater’s patented multi-channel approach. As a result, this Fortune 500 company is now our lead partner with a phased agreement for the adoption and integration of our WiFi3 development kit into their technology. These agreements and implementation schedule typically are 18-24 months in development and services in advance of final product release.
April 2015 – Warrant Exercise – Edgewater Wireless raised $886,000 through the exercise of 8.2M warrants. The funds from the exercise were used to advance the company’s business in 2015 and demonstrated a strong show of investor support.
May 2015 – Global Technology Partnership – Edgewater Wireless announced that Zinwave (a subsidiary of the McWane Group) would integrate WiFi3™ technology into Zinwave’s new WiFi-enhanced UNIaccess products for in-building, stadium and public space communications infrastructure. Also in May, Andrew Skafel, President and CEO of Edgewater Wireless spoke at Carrier Wi-Fi World in London, England as part of a thought leadership panel on next generation WiFi technology.
June 2015 – Market Expansion: India – India’s Rare Tech entered into partnership with Edgewater Wireless to establish a high-density demonstration centre in India. India represents the second highest density market in the world and the Indian government has made a strong commitment to major WiFi deployments throughout the entire country.
July 2015 – Outstanding Investment – Edgewater Wireless completed a non-brokered private placement for 1.62 million dollars to support current and future partner project requirements, hiring engineering resources and drive the business objectives for the company. Later in July, the company engaged with Intellectual Asset Group to focus on the expansion of the company’s patent and licensing business.
September 2015 – Partner Success in the Caribbean – Edgewater Wireless’ partner in the CALA (Caribbean and Latin America) region announced the deployment of a WiFi network powered by WiFi3 technology at the 130,000 m2 Port Lafito facility owned by GB Group and operated by SSA Marine.
October 2015 – Setting Sights on Silicon Valley – Edgewater Wireless attended the 2015 TC3 Summit held in Silicon Valley meeting with over 20 telecom, equipment and service provider companies. The event resulted in several ongoing opportunities including the signing of NDAs with 2 of the world’s top 5 tablet and handset manufacturers as well as a number of other potential commercial partnerships.
November 2015 – CIX Top 20 & IOT-Ready – Edgewater Wireless was rated by the Canadian Innovation Exchange as one of Canada’s most innovative companies. In November, the company also announced the expansion of WiFi3™ technology into the Internet Of Things with the launch of our IOTair™ platform.
December 2015 – Innovation Continues with Patent Award – Edgewater Wireless received Final Award from the US Patent Office for Automatic Gain Control – a world first in innovation and optimization for Multi-channel Wi-Fi.
Strategy for 2016
The year ahead is one of focus and expansion for Edgewater Wireless.
Building on the strong foundations created in 2015, we enter 2016 poised for continued success. Focused on the three pillars of Edgewater’s business from High-density WiFi solutions; to OEM and Licensing; and Intellectual Property monetization, the year ahead is one of opportunity and growth for Edgewater Wireless as we continue our mission of disruptive innovation.
Market opportunity — continued accelerated growth of WiFi and the densification of WiFi devices. In 2015 high-density WiFI emerged as a market segment and the densification of WiFi (and wireless) will continue to dominate the years to come. IoT (internet of things) is only the latest example of the increased density of wireless devices. In layman’s terms, for the last 10 years WiFi manufacturers have focused on speed and providing improved services and applications like voice and video over WiFi. We’re now seeing a maturing in the marketplace as the proliferation of WiFi access points, both at the consumer and commercial level is now reaching a high level of saturation in high density locations. The result is creating major issues for Radio Frequency (RF) interference and capacity for WiFi- too many users demanding too much data from the ever-growing use of Smart Phones, Tablets and other Wireless Devices. It’s the issues of interference and capacity which represent the growing market opportunity for Edgewater Wireless.
Edgewater’s WiFi3 technology enables 3 channels on a single radio and up to 12 channels on a single WiFi access point – but what does that really mean in the real world? It means you can deploy fewer access points in a an environment like a corporate campus, convention center , stadium or large public space and improve exponential capacity for those data hungry wireless devices while also working around and mitigating the growing interference issue using exclusive WiFi3 features like PowerZoning (built into our WiFi3 technology) to engineer a simply better WiFi network design.
The technical capabilities of our patented WiFi3 technology also deliver a real-world competitive advantage. Deploying fewer access points equals reduced investment for both building and operating a WiFi network. It’s a simple equation; lower upfront investment plus long-term reduction in operating expense equalling a major competitive advantage for Edgewater’s growing network of partners and resellers.
Thank You
Finally, we want to thank our long term investors and supporters for believing in our company, our vision, management and team. The future is very bright for Edgewater Wireless and we are excited to build upon a very successful 2015 into the new year and beyond.
We are the WiFi innovator.
Edgewater’s WiFi3™ powered technology is the best Wi-Fi solution for carriers, service providers and systems integrators to address the growing problems of interference, capacity and critical mass of users which is stretching networks to their breaking point. Edgewater’s patented technology solves the high-density problem while also significantly reducing the equipment investment and operating costs for new network deployments.
About Edgewater Wireless Systems Inc.:
Edgewater Wireless develops and commercializes leading edge technologies and intellectual property for the communications market. Edgewater Wireless delivers advanced product solutions designed to meet the high-density, high quality of service (QoS) and high-reliability needs of service providers and their customers. Leveraging over twenty (20) patents, Edgewater’s WiFi3™ is redefining Wi-Fi technology with its wide-band, multi-channel radio and high-capacity Access Point solutions, and delivering next generation Wi-Fi, today.
The best solution for High-Density Wi-Fi networks, Edgewater Wireless WiFi3 powered access point products enable innovative service providers to plan, build and deploy reliable, high-capacity services (like VoWiFI) for high-density wireless data demand in any environment.
Do more with less! Fewer access points delivering high quality service at a lower overall deployment cost make our patented WiFi3 technology the right choice for your next Wi-Fi network.
Explore the evolution of Wi-Fi at www.EdgewaterWireless.com
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The use of any of the words “expect”, “anticipate”, “continue”, “estimate”, “objective”, “ongoing”, “may”, “will”, “project”, “should”, “believe”, “plans”, “intends” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking information or statements. Although Edgewater Wireless believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking statements and information are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward looking statements and information because Edgewater Wireless can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. By its nature, such forward-looking information is subject to various risks and uncertainties, which could cause Edgewater Wireless’ actual results and experience to differ materially from the anticipated results or expectations expressed. These risks and uncertainties, include, but are not limited to access to capital markets, market forces, competition from new and existing companies and regulatory conditions. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information, which is given as of the date it is expressed in this news release or otherwise, and to not use future-oriented information or financial outlooks for anything other than their intended purpose. Edgewater Wireless undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
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