to Carriers and ISPs
Aether Systems Inc., (Nasdaq:AETH), a leading provider of wireless data products and services, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire RTS Wireless, Inc., a leading developer of software systems connecting the Internet to a broad array of wireless devices.
The acquisition fills in key components of Aether's product roadmap to unify and broaden the company's product suite while enhancing Aether's current offerings to the carrier and ISP market.
Based in Plainview, N.Y., RTS Wireless provides carrier-class wireless Internet infrastructure products and services with leading technologies for wireless messaging services including two-way short messaging services (SMS), instant messaging and unified messaging.
The RTS Wireless Advantage(R) System also provides Web content transformation and delivery services to virtually any wireless device, including cell phones, pagers, hand-held PCs and on-board computers in vehicles.
RTS Wireless customers include many leading carriers, ISPs, and enterprises such as America Online, Alltel Communications, Ameritech, Ericsson, EirCell (Ireland), Motorola, Verizon and Voicestream.
In addition to the relationships with these outstanding companies, Aether will gain a team of 120 wireless engineers among RTS's 200 employees, all with extensive mobile application development experience. The agreement provides for a purchase price of $26 million in cash and approximately 1.3 million shares of Aether stock.
"This acquisition makes Aether an even stronger technology company in many ways," said Aether Chairman and CEO Dave Oros. "Aether can now offer value-added products and services directly to carriers and ISPs.
"The RTS Advantage System brings new capabilities that fit perfectly into our product roadmap as we build a complete mobile computing platform. And, the engineering resources we gain, when combined with our existing base of 350 world-class wireless engineers, gives Aether an outstanding concentration of talent."
Over the last year, RTS Wireless has established its presence in Europe, where the company has built out both engineering and sales resources to address the opportunities throughout this region.
More recently, RTS Wireless' Hong Kong office has made major strides in establishing a sales and marketing presence in the Asia Pacific market and positioning its Web content transformation products in banks, brokerages, ISPs, publishers and e-commerce companies.
By joining Aether, RTS will now be able to provide its current customers an extended range of products and services on top of the network connectivity it currently offers.
"Our infrastructure, products and technology have gained acceptance by the leading carriers, device manufacturers, content providers and enterprises in the marketplace," said Spencer A. Kravitz, President and COO of RTS Wireless. "By joining forces with Aether, we will be able to create an all-encompassing mobile computing software family."
RTS Wireless provides the building blocks - often called the `plumbing' - of the wireless Internet, which includes the interface software between computer systems, wireless networks and end-user devices.
The company's Advantage product line is highly adaptable wireless and Internet connectivity software that enables wireless and Internet communication to travel freely across a wide variety of platforms.
The Advantage platforms enable wireless messaging and data transmission between the Internet (or intranets) and mobile devices in a manner similar to the way an IP router manufacturers' products handle IP data packets in local and wide-area wired networks.
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