Order for 100,000 units, the largest wireless data order ever, sets new price point for better and faster wireless POS service
HAWAII (March 11, 1999)-CellGate Technologies, LLC, provider of cellular digital network services for transaction processing, announced today that it has reached agreement with Tellus Technology, a provider of wireless data modems and technology, to develop and supply at least 100,000 Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) terminal adapters for use in CellGateís wireless Point of Sale (POS) service. Delivery of the units órepresenting the largest wireless data order to dateóis scheduled to begin later this year.
The Tellus adapter will allow most dial-up POS terminals to transparently use CellGateís nationwide CDPD service, speeding response time and saving merchants millions of dollars in telecommunications costs. CellGateís CDPD service, which uses a patented, proprietary technology licensed from AT&T Wireless Services, will facilitate credit card verification and other POS transactions at a cost to merchants that will be less than traditional fixed business lines.
Tellus will integrate its standard TPRM 130C CDPD OEM module with CellGateís POS technology to produce an add-on CDPD terminal adapter. The add-on adapter will work with merchantís existing POS equipment, making possible a seamless transition to the CDPD service. Jeff Connelly, CellGate President & CEO commented "The size of this order, coupled with Tellusí engineering expertise and manufacturing capabilities, allowed us to drastically reduce the expense previously associated with using wireless data. The resulting unit cost allows CellGate to price its CDPD service below current business telephone line prices. Solving the unit cost problem should remove the last hurdle CDPD has had to overcome to gain broad acceptance in the U.S. as a transaction processing technology."
"The TPRM 130C was developed specifically to meet the price-performance requirements of fixed use applications such as Point of Sale, home and business security, automated meter reading, and telemetry," said Greg Ellis, Vice President of Tellus Technology. "We are very enthusiastic about working with CellGate to integrate their POS technology so that the merchant community can start to reap the benefits of CDPD, such as fast response times and data security, without paying the proverbial ëarm and a leg.í"
"AT&T Wireless Services believes that our CDPD technology is ideally suited for POS transactions," said Kendra Vandermeulen, Senior Vice President of Product Development and Strategy for AT&T Wireless Services. "With its order from Tellus, CellGate is positioning itself to provide merchants around the country a compelling alternative to fixed line services for credit card processing and other data-related purchasing functions."
Tellus Technology, Inc. designs, manufactures and markets a range of CDPD/wireless IP data modems for both fixed and mobile applications. The company is based in Fremont, CA. Tellus can be reached by phone at (510) 498-8500 or visit their web site at www.TellusTechnology.com.
CellGate Technologies LLC is a provider of cellular digital network services for transaction processing. Based in Boca Raton, FL CellGate can be contacted at (561) 999-9077 or visit their web site at www.cellgate.com.
CellGate is a trademark of CellGate Technologies LLC. TPRM is a trademark of Tellus Technology, Inc.
