CALGARY, Alberta, March 21, 2001 —Wireless Matrix Corporation and Siemens Milltronics Process Instruments Inc. have entered into an agreement for the joint development and provision of WIRELESS MATRIX' industry-leading IP Anywhere(r) services to specific sectors of the global water monitoring and remote inventory monitoring market.
The Agreement provides the framework for the relationship between the companies. Under the terms of the Agreement, SIEMENS MILLTRONICS and WIRELESS MATRIX will work co-operatively to offer customers in the potable and waste water and remote inventory monitoring markets the ability to move data from SIEMENS MILLTRONICS monitoring and control devices into an enterprise-wide format as provided through IP Anywhere. The companies will work together to identify potential opportunities for marketing and selling of IP Anywhere in conjunction with SIEMENS MILLTRONICS technology, and will develop independent and joint business functions for the successful delivery of IP Anywhere services to targeted markets. IP Anywhere will be distributed by SIEMENS MILLTRONICS and provided to customers under the SIEMENS brand name.
SIEMENS MILLTRONICS has annual sales of approximately $80 million of level measurement instrumentation, with approximately 500,000 points of measurement installed worldwide. Given the relatively new nature of the remote inventory monitoring market, it is not known what percentage of the aggregate level sensing market is available to be targeted with remote inventory monitoring services. While global numbers for the water market are not available, North America is believed to have approximately 190,000 public water treatment facilities and 22,000 wastewater treatment facilities.
"As with Schlumberger in global oil and gas, it has been and continues to be core to our business strategy to address our target markets through partnerships with incumbent global industry leaders. Clearly, SIEMENS MILLTRONICS is such a company," said Dr. J.T. Knight, Chief Executive Officer of WIRELESS MATRIX. "In the short term, there is clear customer demand and strong economics underlying this partnership. Remote inventory monitoring is a prominent current market, and we believe over the longer term that water will emerge as the next precious fluid on this planet and thereby constitute a key IP Anywhere market. We also believe we can readily leverage the mobile wireless data expertise of our Norcom Networks business unit to drive additional revenue for logistics and mobile workforce management applications in these markets."
WIRELESS MATRIX's industry-leading IP Anywhere services employ various wireless data technologies to extend the Internet or corporate network past the desktop office PC to include all of the electronic devices and assets in the field owned or operated by industrial customers. This includes fixed assets such as oil and gas wells, compressor stations, pipelines, fluid storage tanks, utility meters, environmental meters, as well as mobile transportation, field service, and logistics assets. With IP Anywhere, customers have access to and control over their electronic assets, regardless of nature or location, as a secure extension of the Internet or corporate network, for a low monthly fee.
"WIRELESS MATRIX is quickly developing a strong position in the emerging industrial wireless data market. Our experience with remote inventory management and water monitoring and control technologies, together with our presence in these markets, provides a natural basis for a partnership," said David Bignell, President and Chief Executive Officer of SIEMENS MILLTRONICS. "Our customers require complete end-to-end interactive systems and services, which are interoperable over a range of terrestrial and wireless networks and simply interfaced into existing information technology infrastructures. We look forward to leveraging our partnership with WIRELESS MATRIX to continue the provision of best-of-class products and services to these markets."
About SIEMENS MILLTRONICS
Siemens Milltronics Process Instruments Inc., a division of Siemens AG, is a leading provider of sophisticated measurement instrumentation used by the water and wastewater, aggregate, cement, mining, chemical, milling, food and other process industries. Principal product lines include level measurement, dry solids flow measurement, and process protection devices. Siemens AG is a world leader in electrical engineering and electronics, with six business divisions including Information and Communications, Automation and Control, Power, Transportation, Medical, and Lighting. Siemens has nearly 447,000 employees worldwide and fiscal 2000 revenues of approximately C$ 110 billion.
About WIRELESS MATRIX
WIRELESS MATRIX, together with its wholly owned subsidiary Norcom Networks Corporation, is a leading developer and value-added provider of fixed and mobile wireless data services to corporate industrial markets. WIRELESS MATRIX' industry-leading IP Anywhere wireless data service is targeted to extend the Internet or corporate network to include an estimated 200 million fixed and mobile corporate non-PC data devices worldwide. This area is expected by many to represent the next major corporate wireless data / Internet communications growth market. With a primary focus on non-urban, industrial markets, WIRELESS MATRIX provides services to the energy, utilities, environmental, transportation, field service, and logistics sectors. This includes fixed assets such as oil and gas wells, compressor stations, pipelines, fluid storage tanks, utility meters, and environmental meters, as well as mobile transportation, field service, and logistics assets. With IP Anywhere, customers have access to and control over their electronic assets and workflow processes, regardless of nature or location, as a secure extension of the Internet or corporate network.
About Norcom Networks Corporation
Norcom, a wholly owned subsidiary of Wireless Matrix Corporation, is a Reston, VA.-based provider of wireless data services and products for enterprises managing assets in remote areas and national and regional mobile workforces. Norcom operates proprietary wireless data gateways that uniquely combine satellite and terrestrial wireless sources for use in enterprise applications, generating from its customers a recurring service annuity and one-time product sale of wireless communicators and related equipment.
