Cell-Loc Location Technologies Announces Completion of its
São Paulo Network
Calgary,
AB, May 31, 2006 – Sheldon Reid, President & CEO, Cell-Loc Location
Technologies Inc. (TSX-V: LTI) ("Cell-Loc" or the
"Company") is pleased to announce that its 74% owned Brazilian
subsidiary, X3 Telecomunicações e Equipamentos Ltda. (“X3”), has successfully
completed the deployment of its wireless location network technology throughout
the city of São Paulo, Brazil, the world’s fifth largest city. In accordance with the Company’s agreement
with Itaú Seguros S.A. (“Itaú Seguros”), the insurance subsidiary of
Investimentos Itaú S.A. (NYSE : ITU), the São Paulo network has met all
accuracy and reliability specifications, and passed a technical audit conducted
by an independent third party. The
parties had entered into a preliminary agreement dated November 22, 2004. During the period from the date of the
preliminary agreement until now, the Company has been designing and
constructing the network, and performing required development activities in
order to successfully meet the conditions established in the preliminary
agreement with a capital cost of approximately $5.4 million to date.
As a result of meeting all of the conditions precedent in its
preliminary agreement, X3 has signed a new five year contract with Itaú Seguros
on May 29, 2006 which provides for guaranteed minimum revenue of $4.6 million
per year during the first two years, exclusively for the Company’s stolen car
application. Pursuant to this
agreement, the Company’s network is responsible for providing real time
location of stolen vehicles, and, if required, remote immobilization by
shutting off the fuel supply. The
network is now entering its commercial stage, with devices being installed in
vehicles commencing in early June.
The new agreement with Itaú Seguros specifies that an initial
predefined number of the insurer’s vehicles will be equipped with Cell-Loc’s
wireless device (the “Beacon”). Itaú
Seguros will pay a specified annual fee for each beacon installed, with payment
for a year made in advance in the month following installation. After installation of the guaranteed minimum
number of Beacons, the insurer and the Company will jointly work to equip substantially
all of Itaú Seguros’ insured fleet within São Paulo. The annual guaranteed minimum payment is subject to the Company’s
capacity to install the guaranteed minimum quantity.
A Brazilian manufacturer has been contracted to produce the
Beacons for the network at a cost of approximately $45 per unit. The Company has worked closely with the
manufacturer in establishing the manufacturing process. Production Beacons received by X3 have been
tested for compliance with performance requirements specified in the agreement
with Itaú Seguros. Payments under the
contract are subject to beacon and network performance criteria as established
in the agreement. The Company is
confident that it will continue to meet these specifications as evidenced by
the successful completion of the independent technical audit.
Marcelo Blay, Vice President Operations for Itaú Seguros states
“we are a technology driven company that continuously looks globally for cost
effective solutions for managing and assessing our business risk of
underwriting insurance premiums. Cell-Loc’s ability to provide real time location at a competitive
pricing point gives Itaú Seguros the ability to offer this service to a
substantial portion of our insured fleet and is evidence that new technologies
will continue to change the way insurance companies evaluate various types of
insurance coverage.”
Sheldon Reid, President & CEO of Cell-Loc said, “we are
extremely pleased to have delivered on our commitment to deploy a world-class
network in a world-class city. This
agreement highlights the advances that Cell-Loc has made to commercialize the
intellectual property (“IP”) that it has developed during the past several
years.”
The Company believes that the successful deployment of its
wireless technology in a city such as São Paulo positions Cell-Loc as an
emerging leader in the wireless location market.
·
With São Paulo’s urban density, congestion and challenging
topography the Company’s wireless network has successfully demonstrated its
ability to overcome radio frequency interference and multipathing in any urban
environment.
·
The Company’s wireless technology provides real time location
without requiring line of sight, making it the optimal wireless location
technology for urban areas.
·
The contract with Itaú Seguros generates significant revenue in
the stolen vehicle market. The Company
expects strong demand from the aftermarket in addition to Itaù Seguros’
commitment due to the high customer awareness for security issues in São Paulo. The existing network can also be used for
numerous other vertical markets including, but not limited to, fleet tracking,
asset tracking and the added feature of moving small packets of data on demand.
·
The wireless network operates independently and does not require
other networks, cellular or otherwise, for its operation. This creates the optimal value chain for the
Company’s wireless location technology.
·
The hardware and deployment costs of the Company’s network are
relatively inexpensive. The network is
passive (does not transmit) and consequently does not, for most countries,
require regulatory approvals.
·
The cost of the Beacon (the installed device) is believed to be
the least expensive relative to all other location technologies. In addition, the Beacon operates in an
unlicensed band at 2.4 GHz and has zero associated transmission costs. The device is also available in a portable
model coming with its own power source (with battery life of up to two years)
and therefore can be attached to any physical asset. Together these attributes create a ubiquitous location solution
and offer the opportunity for deep market penetration for any application of
location in any country.
·
The Company invented, designed and commercialized its algorithm
driven location technology, consequently it has exclusive control over its
IP. It has also identified significant
additional opportunities to enhance its technology, including substantially
lowering manufacturing costs, the Beacon device and the wireless network.
·
Because the Company’s IP relies on the algorithms it developed
over the past seven years to generate real time location and less on the
hardware, the Company has determined that it can protect its IP through
extensive encryption algorithms.
About Cell-Loc Location Technologies Inc.
Cell-Loc Location
Technologies Inc. (www.cell-loc.com) is the developer of a family of
network-based wireless location products that enable location-based services.
Located in Calgary, Alberta, Cell-Loc currently develops, markets and supports
its patented wireless location technology in North and South America and Asia,
with a view to expanding globally. Cell-Loc is listed on the TSX Venture
Exchange under the trading symbol: "LTI."
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For further information about CLTI and the
ongoing technology business, please contact:
Sheldon Reid Dave
Guebert
President and CEO Vice President, Finance
and CFO
Cell-Loc
Location Technologies Inc. Cell-Loc
Location Technologies Inc.
Phone: 403.569.5777 Phone: 403.569.5796
Safe Harbour for Forward Looking Statements: This news release
contains certain information that may constitute forward-looking statements
under applicable securities laws. Statements made in this news release are not
guarantees of future performance and involve a number of risks, uncertainties
and assumptions. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the
preparation of such information, although considered reasonable by the Company
at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect. Actual results achieved
may vary from the results anticipated or implied herein and variations may be
material. There is no representation by the Company that actual results
achieved will be the same in whole or in part as those implied in any forward
looking statements.
TSX Venture Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved of the
contents of this news release.