Mobile Tornado Group plc
("Mobile Tornado" or the "Company")
Appointment of Regional Director for Israel and deployment of pilots
Mobile Tornado (AIM: MBT), the instant communications services provider for mobile devices, announces the appointment of Shmulik Nehama as Regional Director of Israel to continue the development of this division and to manage the extensive pilot deployments across the region.
Appointment of Shmulik Nehama
Mr Nehama has been appointed Regional Director with immediate effect. He began his career at Motorola where he helped develop the business behind the iDEN protocols for the first Push To Talk ("PTT") deployments. Following this, he was a member of the leadership team which founded Motorola Integrated Radio Systems Communications Ltd ("MIRS"), a wireless telecommunication company based in Israel, which focussed on PTT and was heavily involved in setting up PTT platforms and establishing the PTT market in Israel. MIRS was acquired by Hot Group Ltd, a subsidiary of Altice Group, in 2010.
Mr Nehama brings 32 years' experience in the telecoms industry with both significant experience of PTT technologies and an extensive network of contacts from across Israel's mobile communications industry.
Significant Market Opportunity in Israel
The Company believes the mobile communications market in Israel, particularly in terms of PTT technology, represents a significant opportunity for Mobile Tornado to exploit due to several factors outlined below:
· Israel is an early adopter of PTT technology with significant growth potential. There are currently an estimated 10 million mobile subscribers in Israel, with increasing penetration of smartphones*. Of the total subscriber market of 10 million, the Company estimates that approximately 2.5 million are Enterprise users and of these approximately 0.4 million users are already subscribing to some form of PTT technology.
· The PTT industry in Israel has undergone significant consolidation. Unlike many mobile communication markets, PTT users in Israel have largely been served by only one major Mobile Network Operator ("MNO") being HOT Group, formerly MIRS Communications. The other major MNOs across the region, such as Orange, Pelephone and Cellcom, together command over 85% of the total mobile subscriber market and currently do not offer any PTT solution. Moreover, HOT Group is basing its PTT services on its end-of-life iDEN network, which suffers from a limited device portfolio. The development of a new and direct route to market for a next generation PTT technology across a wide portfolio of devices has the potential to significantly accelerate deployment and adoption of PTT technology across the region.
· Extensive Pilot Deployments across Israel. The Company has already negotiated an extensive number of pilot deployments across Israel with both national public safety organisations and large and small enterprises. Mobile Tornado is deploying approximately 2,000 PTT user licenses across these trial customers with approximately 35,000 mobile subscribers. It is expected these trial deployments will take no more than six months on average.
· Strong Pricing Dynamics. Due to the combination of Mobile Tornado's proprietary technology, weak competition and the rapidly growing market for PTT across the territory, the Company believes it can deliver a compelling value proposition to its target customer base.
Commenting on the announcement, Jeremy Fenn, CEO said: "We are delighted that we have recruited Shmulik Nehama to run this new division. Shmulik was one of the founders and head of sales for Mirs Group which provided Israel's Home Front Command's phone network for all national emergenciesand so has unrivalled experience and contacts with major corporate target customers in the region. With its unique expertise across PTT technologies, the Company believes it has a unique and significant opportunity to rapidly become the dominant direct to enterprise player in the rapidly expanding market for PTT in Israel and we are particularly excited about this opportunity and look forward to updating investors on our progress in due course.
"On a global basis, we are clearly building momentum as a leader in the field of PTT with an expanding pipeline of new business across both the developing and established mobile communication markets as more blue-chip enterprises and global Tier 1 mobile network operators subscribe to our technology platform."
* Source; Research and Markets, 2012.
Enquiries:
Mobile Tornado Group plc |
www.mobiletornado.com |
Jeremy Fenn, Chief Executive |
+44 (0)7734 475 888 |
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Investec Bank plc (Nominated Adviser & Broker) |
+44 (0)20 7597 4000 |
Dominic Emery / Carlton Nelson |
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Walbrook PR Ltd |
+44 (0)20 7933 8780 or [email protected] |
Paul McManus |
+44 (0)7980 541 893 |
Helen Cresswell |
+44 (0)7841 917 679 |
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About Mobile Tornado Group Plc (www.mobiletornado.com)
Mobile Tornado Group PLC (AIM: MBT) specialises in the provision of Instant Communications services for mobile devices, with a focus on enterprise workforce management. The Company's main applications comprise Instant Talk, Instant Locate, Instant Alert & Instant Message and are geared towards improving a business's productivity and performance by enabling organisations and workers to connect one-to-one or one-to-many at the touch of a button.
By equipping their workforce with conventional mobile handsets and Mobile Tornado's Instant Communication services, a company can communicate with one or many employees simultaneously, monitor employee locations, and immediately be alerted of major issues. At the touch of a button, they can communicate with employees more efficiently and cost-effectively than would be possible with traditional mobile services or other Private Mobile Radio (PMR) solutions.
Mobile Tornado's patented Internet Protocol Radio Service (IPRS™) technology has been successfully deployed on networks around the world. The suite of IP-based, OMA standards-compliant services provide instantaneous, 'always-on', bandwidth-efficient communications across a range of mobile networks and devices, including compatibility with forthcoming LTE (Long Term Evolution) 4G mobile networks. Both technical and cost performance is superior to many competing services and technologies, with proven success in the current marketplace.
