FiberChem and Intrex Form Joint Venture With Cornerstone to Deliver ORBCOMM Monitoring Services to Propane Industry
DULLES, Va., June 12 /PRNewswire/ -- ORBCOMM Global, L.P. (ORBCOMM), the first commercial provider of global low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite data communication services, today announced that its value-added reseller Intrex Data Communications Corp., in partnership with its merger partner FiberChem Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: FOCS - news), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Cornerstone Propane Partners L.P. (NYSE: CNO - news) to form a joint venture to market Intrex's proprietary monitoring system to the propane industry worldwide. The joint venture will market a product package consisting of Intrex's proprietary sensor and communication system and Cornerstone's dispatch and delivery software using the ORBCOMM satellite network for data transmission.
This joint venture will become part of the FiberChem/Intrex merged company, which will be renamed DecisionLink, Incorporated. The propane monitoring joint venture will be equally owned by Cornerstone and DecisionLink, and is expected to begin operations this summer.
The first phase will be the installation of approximately 6,000 units on propane tanks owned by one of Cornerstone's business units in California. Cornerstone expects to outfit the majority of its 460,000 installations with the joint venture package in the second phase of installations beginning next year. The joint venture expects to begin marketing the propane monitoring system internationally this year and in North America in early 2001. Marketing will be through direct contacts in the propane industry and through ORBCOMM's international service distribution partners.
``We are excited to work with DecisionLink and Cornerstone to make the ubiquity and versatility of satellite monitoring available to the global propane community,'' said Scott L. Webster, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ORBCOMM. ``This solution is a highly functional, cost-effective reporting and dispatch system that will keep propane managers in touch with their assets.
``Cornerstone is one of the largest and most well respected leaders in the propane industry, and their knowledge and industry contacts will be vital to the success of this venture,'' Webster continued. ``We view this as both a testament to the value of ORBCOMM satellite communications and an invaluable new communications tool for propane managers the world over.'' |
