Urbana.ca Inc. Named Exclusive CanadianDistributor of Eagle Wireless Set-top Boxes; Urbana to Receive Initial50,000 Unit Order in Spring 2000
January 26, 2000 12:26 PM
ONTARIO, Canada--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 26, 2000--Urbana.ca Inc. URBA , an Internet and content company providing community-based entertainment and information services, announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary Urbana.ca Enterprises Corp. has received an exclusive Canadian distribution license from Eagle Wireless International EGLW (www.eglw.com) for its convergent set-top boxes.
An initial order of 50,000 units will be delivered to Urbana.ca Enterprises in the spring of 2000. This order is part of a contract between Eagle and Urbana.ca to deliver 500,000 set-top boxes over a 21-month period. The proprietary set-top box configuration combines a Linux operating system and USA Video Interactive's USVO Wavelet compression and Video-on-Demand technology. A shipment of 115 test units was received by Urbana.ca on December 15, 1999 against the initial order to begin the Company's pilot project in Ontario, Canada.
The set-top box provides Urbana.ca the vehicle to deliver local Internet access and enhanced services, such as monitored smoke detection, video-on-demand, homework online, automatic meter reading, and other commercial and residential applications, to local communities.
Jason Cassis, president of Urbana.ca Inc., commented, "The Eagle set-top box provides an exciting suite of technology unparalleled in the set-top box market today. The proprietary applications Urbana required and is running were not available on any other competing set-top box."
The Company also announced its decision to progress from pilot status to mass distribution of its set-top boxes with its first "go live" city of Guelph, Ontario. The Company will be announcing further cities to be added during the first quarter of 2000 and will continue to search for a United States counterpart pilot community.
Rick Whittaker, president of Enersphere.com, Urbana.ca's Internet content provider and wholly-owned subsidiary, commented, "The overwhelming success of the pilot project confirmed the viability of delivering local net services via set-top boxes. We are excited with our decision to begin implementing the set-top boxes to a wider audience. Moving from the pilot phase to mass distribution marks an important and progressive step for the Company."
Eagle Wireless International, Inc., and subsidiaries, is a leading supplier of broadband wired and wireless equipment and services for the Internet, Multimedia Set-Top-Box, one- and two-way wireless messaging, specialized mobile radio (SMR), remote data acquisition and meter reading, and Integrated Wired and Wireless Convergence product markets. The Company is headquartered in League City, Texas, near the NASA Johnson Space Center south of Houston. Further news updates on Eagle and its products are available at www.eglw.com, www.otcfn.com/eglw and www.charterbridge.com.
Urbana.ca Inc. is an e-commerce, transaction and content company that creates Intranet and Internet-based systems in conjunction with local area governments and high profile corporations. Delivered through a set-top-box, local communities can be provided with community-based entertainment and information services widely used in all facets of everyday life. The Company's headquarters are located in Ontario, Canada. For additional updates, see www.otcfn.com/urba.
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