Aether Systems and Reuters To Set Up New Wireless Venture for European Markets.Business Editors OWINGS MILLS, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 8, 2000 Agreement Brings Together Leader in Wireless Data Services with Leader in Global News and Information Aether aether: see ether, in physics and astronomy. Aether god of whole atmosphere. [Gk. Myth.: Jobes, 42] See : Air Systems, Inc. a leader in wireless data services and systems, and Reuters, the global information and news group, today signed a letter of intent to set up a new, independently managed company to develop and provide wireless data applications in Europe, initially focusing on financial markets. The new company will be headquartered in the United Kingdom. Following its formation, the new company will design, develop and operate wireless services for clients in a variety of industries. Revenues will be derived from service fees, transaction fees and design and development work. The company's strategy will be to build its business both organically and through acquisition of complementary companies. Aether Systems develops wireless data and transaction solutions for mobile professionals and consumers. Aether will initially own 60 percent of the new company. It will contribute $100 million in cash and will have three directors on the Board. David Oros, Chairman and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Aether Systems, will be Chairman and acting CEO of the new venture. The management team of the new company will be announced in due course. Under the proposed agreement, Reuters will initially own the remaining 40 percent of the company through a combined contribution of assets and approximately $22 million in cash. It will have two board members. Reuters will be the primary supplier of news and financial information to the new venture, which will be licensed to employ the Reuters and Aether brands in its products and services. The proposed venture with Reuters is part of Aether's strategy to expand internationally as a leading wireless applications services provider. Aether is developing innovative corporate wireless data applications for smartphones, handheld computers A computing device that can be easily held in one hand while the other hand is used to operate it. The Palm devices are a popular example. See Palm, smartphone and palmtop. and two-way pagers, while hosting and supporting those applications over a multitude of wireless data networks. &uot;We are extremely excited to team up with Reuters - the recognized world leader in information and news services - as the market in Europe for wireless applications and services is now taking shape,&uot; David Oros said. &uot;The European and US markets for wireless data are evolving along different tracks. Each has its own complexities, including competing standards and network limitations. Removing those complexities for our business customers and allowing them to gain new efficiencies and productivity by truly empowering their mobile workforces - is what Aether is all about.&uot; This transaction will enable Reuters to accelerate its plans to be a leading provider of data and content for wireless applications in Europe. It will allow Reuters to move from supplying wholesale data to providing information, transaction capabilities and services to users of wireless applications. Importantly, the new company will create a base for transition to the next generation of Wireless Application Protocol (WAP (1) (Wireless Access Point) See access point. (2) (Wireless Application Protocol) A standard for providing cellular phones, pagers and other handheld devices with secure access to e-mail and text-based Web pages. ) services. Peter Job, Reuters chief executive, said: &uot;Reuters wireless strategy is for anyone, anywhere, anytime, to have access to personalized per·son·al·ize tr.v. per·son·al·ized, per·son·al·iz·ing, per·son·al·iz·es 1. To take (a general remark or characterization) in a personal manner. 2. To attribute human or personal qualities to; personify. information services See Information Systems. . Delivering these services requires partnerships with carriers, manufacturers and infrastructure specialists. We already have a number of strong partnerships in place, in particular with Vodafone, Nokia and Ericsson. We now want to take the business to a new level and be more directly involved in the provision of specific applications services in the wireless market for our customers. Reuters has been an enthusiastic investor in Aether Systems since 1998 and I am looking forward to working with them in bringing their successful business into Europe.&uot; The transaction will be subject to the negotiation and execution of definitive documentation and upon Aether obtaining the requisite financing for its contribution, as well as other customary closing conditions. About Aether Aether Systems, Inc., is a leading wireless data applications service provider that enables real-time data Real-time data denotes information that is delivered immediately after collection. There is no delay in the timeliness of the information provided. Some uses of this term confuse it with the term dynamic data. communications over a full range of wireless devices and networks. Using its engineering expertise, its unique Aether Intelligent Messaging An earlier messaging system from Banyan Systems that ran on NetWare and VINES servers and incorporated Banyan's popular Streettalk directory service. It included a basic mail program, which could be upgraded to the more advanced BeyondMail system. See ePresence. (AIM) software platform and its customer service and network operations center See NOC. Network Operations Center - (NOC) A location from which the operation of a network or internet is monitored. Additionally, this center usually serves as a clearinghouse for connectivity problems and efforts to resolve those problems. , Aether Systems uses a &uot;one-stop shopping&uot; approach to enterprise customers by offering turnkey wireless data solutions with software and applications that are device and network agnostic ag·nos·tic n. 1. a. One who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a God. b. One who is skeptical about the existence of God but does not profess true atheism. 2. . Aether's initial focus has been on developing and supporting wireless data applications for leaders in the financial services The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. industry with customers such as Charles Schwab Charles Schwab can refer to:
 To comply with Wikipedia's , the introduction of this article needs a complete rewrite. Dean Witter Dean Witter may refer to:
Company that provides Internet connections and services to individuals and organizations. For a monthly fee, ISPs provide computer users with a connection to their site (see data transmission), as well as a log-in name and password. based in Palo Alto, California “Palo Alto” redirects here. For other uses, see Palo Alto (disambiguation). Palo Alto (IPA: /ˌpæloʊˈʔæltoʊ/, from Spanish: palo: "stick" and alto: "high", i.e. . For more information, visit Aether's Web site, www.aethersystems.com. About Reuters Reuters supplies the global financial markets and the news media with the widest range of information and news products including real-time financial data, collective investment data, numerical, textual, historical and graphical databases plus news, graphics, news video, and news pictures. It reaches over 521,000 users in 52,800 locations and extensively uses Internet technologies for wider distribution of information and news. Reuters designs and installs enterprise-wide information management and risk management systems for the financial markets as well as providing equity and foreign exchange transaction systems. Reuters provides news and information to over 900 Internet sites reaching an estimated 40 million viewers. Reuters is the world's largest news and television agency with 2,101 journalists, photographers and camera operators in 184 bureaus serving 154 countries. News is published in 23 languages. Instinet, an international electronic agency stockbroker Stockbroker 1. An agent that charges a fee or commission for executing buy and sell orders submitted by an investor. 2. The firm that acts as an agent for a customer, charging the customer a commission for its services. , is an independently managed subsidiary of Reuters. The Group employed 16,548 staff in 212 cities in 97 countries at 31 December 1999. For more details see www.reuters.com/mediapack/ Reuters and the sphere logo are the trademarks of the Reuters group of companies. This press release may be deemed to include forward-looking statements forward-looking statement A projected financial statement based on management expectations. A forward-looking statement involves risks with regard to the accuracy of assumptions underlying the projections. within the meaning of Section 27A of the US Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the US Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Certain important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in such forward-looking statements are described in Reuters Preliminary Results Statement for the year ended 31 December 1999 under the heading &uot;Cautionary Statements.&uot; Copies of this report are available on request from Reuters Group PLC, 85 Fleet Street, London EC4P 4AJ. No obligation is undertaken to update the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. With regard to Aether, these risks and other risk factors are described in Aether's Form S1/A prospectus under the caption, &uot;Risk Factors&uot; filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Aether undertakes no obligation to update the forward looking statements contained in this press release. |
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